IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


1.0 


I 


I.I 


1.25 


itt  1^   [2.2 

^  iS&   |20 


6" 


V>'  '•^ 


V 


Sdaices 
CorpQration 


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33  WIST  MAIN  STRHT 

WIUTIR,N.Y.  14SM 

(-/U)«7a-4S0S 


4^ 


^4^0 


%^ 


CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHM/ICIVIH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  IMicroraproductions  /  Institut  Canadian  da  microraproductions  liistoriquas 


4 
O 


T«chnical  and  Bibliographic  Notas/NotM  tachnlquM  at  bibllographiquaa 


Tha  Inatituta  haa  attamptad  to  obtain  tha  baat 
original  copy  avallabia  for  filming^  Faaturaa  of  thia 
copy  which  may  ba  bibllographically  uniqua, 
which  may  altar  any  of  tha  imagaa  In  tha 
raproductlon,  or  which  may  aignlficantly  changa 
tha  uaual  mathod  of  filming,  ara  chackaid  balow. 


Q 


Coiourad  covara/ 
Couvartura  da  couiaur 


r~1   Covara  damagad/ 


D 


Couvartura  andommagia 

Covara  raatorad  and/or  laminatad/ 
Couvartura  raataurte  at/ou  pailicuiAa 


□   Covar  titia  miaaing/ 
La 


D 
D 


D 


D 


titra  da  couvartura  manqua 

lourad  mapa/ 
Cartaa  g^ographiquaa  an  couiaur 

Coiourad  Ink  (l.a.  othar  than  blua 

Encra  da  couiaur  (l.a.  autra  qua  blaua  ou  noira) 


r~n   Coiourad  mapa/ 

I     I   Coiourad  Ink  (l.a.  othar  than  blua  or  black)/ 


I     I   Coiourad  plataa  and/or  liluatrationa/ 


Planchaa  at/ou  liluatrationa  an  couiaur 


Bound  with  othar  matarial/ 
RalM  avac  d'autraa  documanta 


Tight  binding  may  cauaa  aliadowa  or  diatortion 
along  Intarior  margin/ 

La  re  liura  aarrto  paut  cauaar  da  I'ombra  ou  da  la 
diatortion  la  long  da  la  marga  intiriaura 

Blank  laavaa  addad  during  raatoration  may 
appaar  within  tha  taxt.  Whanavar  poaaibia,  thaaa 
hava  baan  omittad  from  filming/ 
11  aa  paut  qua  cartainaa  pagaa  blanchaa  a^outAaa 
lora  d'una  raatauration  apparaiaaant  dana  la  taxta, 
mala,  loraqua  cala  4talt  pos  ibia,  caa  pagaa  n'ont 
paa  «ti  flimAaa. 

Additional  commanta:/ 
Commantairaa  aupplimantairaa: 


Th 
to 


L'Inatltut  a  microfilm*  la  malllaur  axamplaira 
qu'li  lul  a  M  poaaibia  da  aa  procurer.  Laa  dAtaiia 
da  cat  axamplaira  qui  aont  paut-Atra  uniquaa  du 
point  da  vua  bibliographiqua,  qui  pauvant  modifiar 
una  imaga  raproduita,  ou  qui  pauvant  axigar  una 
modification  dana  la  mithoda  normala  da  flimaga 
aont  Indlqute  ci-daaaoua. 


□  Coiourad  pagaa/ 
Pagaa  da  couiaur 


D 
D 
0 
D 


D 


Pagaa  damagad/ 
Pagaa  andommagiaa 

Pagaa  raatorad  and/or  laminated/ 
Pagaa  raataur4aa  at/ou  paillculiaa 

Pagaa  diacoiourad,  atainad  or  foxed/ 
Pagaa  dicoloriaa,  tachatAaa  ou  piquAea 

Pagaa  detached/ 
Pagaa  d^tach^aa 


Th 
po 
of 
fllr 


Or 
be 
th« 
aio 
ott 
fin 
aio 
or 


[771   Showthrough/ 


Tranaparanca 

Quality  of  prir 

Quality  InAgala  da  I'lmpreaaion 

Inciudaa  auppiamantary  matarii 
Comprand  du  matiriel  aupplAmantalre 


I     I  Quality  of  print  varlaa/ 

rn   Inciudaa  auppiamantary  matarial/ 


Th( 
ahi 
Ti^ 
wh 

Ma 

ant 
bef 
rigl 
req 
me 


r~n   Only  aditlon  avallabia/ 


Saula  Mitlon  diaponibia 

Pagaa  wholly  or  partially  obacured  by  errata 
aiipa,  tiaauae,  ate,  hava  baan  rafilmed  to 
enaura  tha  baat  poaaibia  image/ 
l.aa  pagaa  totaiament  ou  partiailamant 
obacurclaa  par  un  fauiilat  d'arrata,  una  palura, 
etc.,  ont  4t4  fiimiaa  i  nouveau  da  fapon  i 
obtanir  la  mailiaura  image  poaaibia. 


Thia  Item  la  filmed  at  tha  reduction  ratio  chackad  balow/ 

Ca  document  aat  film*  au  taux  da  rMuctlon  Indiqu*  ci-daaaoua 

10X                          14X                           18X                          22X 

2SX 

30X 

V 

12X 

lex 

aDX 

ux 

aax 

»x 

Th«  copy  filmMl  hw  has  bMn  raproducMl  thanks 
to  tho  gonoroalty  of: 

Library  of  the  Public 
Archives  of  Canada 


L'axamplaira  flim4  f ut  raproduit  grlca  i  la 
OAnArositi  da: 

La  bibiiothAqua  das  Archives 
pubiiquas  du  Canada 


The  images  appearing  here  are  the  bast  quality 
possible  considering  the  condition  and  legibility 
of  the  original  copy  and  in  Iceeping  with  the 
filming  contract  specifications. 


Original  copies  in  printed  paper  covers  are  filmed 
beginning  with  the  front  cover  and  ending  on 
the  last  page  with  a  printed  or  illuatratad  impres- 
sion, or  the  bacic  cover  when  appropriate.  Ail 
other  original  copies  are  filmed  beginning  on  the 
first  page  with  a  printed  or  illuatratad  impres- 
sion, and  ending  on  the  last  page  with  a  printed 
or  iiiustrated  impression. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  -^  (meaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  the  aymboi  ▼  (meaning  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 


Les  images  suh/antes  ont  At*  reproduites  avac  la 
plus  grand  soin,  compta  tenu  de  la  condition  at 
da  la  netteti  de  rexempiaira  f iimA,  at  en 
conformity  avac  ies  conditions  du  contret  de 
fiimage. 

Les  exemplaires  origlnaux  dont  ia  couverture  en 
papier  est  imprimte  sent  fiimis  en  commen9ant 
par  la  premier  plat  at  en  terminant  soit  par  la 
darnlAre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'imi»ression  ou  d'illustration,  soit  par  le  second 
piet,  selon  le  cas.  Tous  les  autres  exempieires 
origlnaux  sent  filmis  en  commen^ant  par  ia 
pramiAre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'iilustration  at  en  terminant  par 
la  darnlAre  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 

Un  dee  symbdes  suivants  apparaltra  sur  ia 
darnlAre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  seion  le 
cas:  le  symbole  — ►  signifie  "A  SUIVRE",  ie 
symbols  ▼  signifie  "FIN". 


Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  retios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  comer,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  aa 
required.  The  following  diagrama  illustrate  the 
method: 


Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  Atre 
filmte  A  des  taux  de  rMuction  diffArents. 
Lorsque  ie  document  est  trop  grand  pour  Atre 
reproduit  en  un  seui  ciichA,  11  est  fiimA  A  partir 
da  I'angle  supArieur  gauche,  de  gauche  A  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  nAcessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  mAthode. 


12  3 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

m- 


'■if« 


■/.;v 


a:»aa<oai 


i^ 


f 


\        or 


•»  ,  ,:^'t- 


HEN 


CLAY, 


:>J 


Ili  DEFEI¥€i:  OF  THE  AlUERICAlir  SYSTEIV, 


.^*-'il 


Against  the  bIutish  colonial  SYSTEAti 


WITH 


•    AN  APPENDIX 


ot 


DOCUMENTS  REFERRED  TO  IN  THE  SPEECH. 


Delivered  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  February  Sd,  Sd,  and  8th,  1882. 


•*^r: 


WASHINGTON: 

l^RlNTfitt  BY  OALBS  AND   SSATON. 
1832. 


LH^If 


3«C 


;v*' 


n^b 


A 


.1^ 


V' 


...  ,. 


..►^«  '■■ 


1  •     > 


•  I    ^'t 


/ 


•  Cr/) 


♦t'^ 


imfl 


j; 


•    •  •  »  * , '  • 


•     •  •    ...    .     . 


36736 


;■  k. 


■Vfir. 


^    >  ^  \    !«    f        H 


Mr. 

In  0 

from  S 

tended 

system 

growin 

eral  d 

part  of 

augmei 

and  gn 

Tffui 

not  of 

And  n( 

that  shi 

ver  bef 

those  i 

to  this ! 

ed  with 

wheInK 

before  i 

conscio 

persuas 

videncc 

Eight 

of  Con 

the  wh( 

We  all 

enormoi 

depress] 

estate; 

the  Peo] 

existed, 

timate  o 

debt:  kJ\ 

paral^sii 

adoption 

wide  spi 

years  wj 

I  have 

sketch  0 

On  a  gei 

face  of  t 

the  publ 

And,  if 

a  People 

ry  degre( 

auctions 

boiling  01 

our  cities 

ment;  ou 


> 


^ 


f 


\ 


\ 


-(:».' 
.'•*" 


SPEECH. 

-9©e- 

Mr.  Clay  rose  and  addressed  the  Senate  substantially  as  foUows'i 

In  one  sentiment,  Mr.  President,  expressed  by  the  honorable  gentleman 
from  South  Carolina,  (General  Hayne)  though,  perhaFts,  not  in  the  sense  in- 
tended by  him,  I  entirely  concur.  I  agree  with  nim,  that  the  decision  on  the 
system  of  policy  embraced  in  this  debate^  involves  the  future  destiny  of  this 
growing  country.  One  way,  I  verily  believe,  it  would  lead  to  deep  and  gen- 
eral distress:  general  bankruptcy  and  national  ruin,  without  ben3fit  to  any 
part  of  the  Union:  The  other,  tne  existing  prosperity  will  be  preserved  and 
augmented,  and  the  nation  will  continue  rapidly  to  advance  in  wealth,  power, 
and  greatness,  without  prejudice  to  any  section  of  the  Confederacy. 

Thus  viewing  the  question,  I  stand  here  as  the  humble  but  zealous  advocate, 
not  of  the  interests  of  one  State  or  seven  States  only,  but,  of  the  whole  Union. 
And  never  before  have  I  felt,  more  intensely,  the  overpoAverin^  weight  ot 
that  share  of  responsibility  which  belongs  to  me  in  these  deliberations.  Ne- 
ver before  have  I  had  more  occasion,  than  I  now  have,  to  lament  my  want  oi 
those  intellectual  powers,  the  possession  of  which  might  enable  me  to  unfold 
to  this  Senate,  and  to  illustrate  to  this  People,  great  truths  intimately  connect- 
ed with  the  lasting  welfare  of  my  country.  I  should,  indeed,  sink,  over- 
whelmed and  subdued  beneath  the  appalling  magnitude  of  the  task  which  lies 
before  me,  it  I  did  not  Lfeel  myself  sustained  and  fortified  by  a  thorough 
consciousness!  of  the  justness  of  the  cause  which  I  have  espoused,  and  by  a 
persuasion,  I  hope  not  presumptuous,  that  it  has  the  approbation  of  that  Pro- 
vidence who  has  so  often  smiled  upon  these  United  States. 

Eight  years  ago,  it  was  my  painful  duty  to  present  to  the  other  House 
of  Congress,  an  unexaggerated  picture  of  the  general  distress  pervading 
the  whole  land.  We  must  all  yet  remember  some  of  its  frightful  features. 
We  all  know  that  the  People  were  then  oppressed  and  borne  down  by  an 
enormous  load  of  debt;  that  the  value  of  property  was  at  the  lowest  point  of 
depression;  that  ruinous  sales  and  sacrifices  were  every  where  made  of  real 
estate:  that  stop  laws  and  relief  laws  and  paper  money  were  adopted  to  sav« 
the  People  from  impending  destruction;  that  a  deficit  in  the  public  revenue 
existed,  which  compelled  Government  to  seize  upon,  and  divert  from  its  legi- 
timate object,  the  appropriation  to  the  sinking  tuna,  to  redeem  the  national 
debt:  &nd  that  our  commerce  and  navigation  were  threatened  with  a  complete 
paralysis.  In  short,  sir,  if  I  were  to  select  any  term  of  seven  years  since  the 
adoption  of  the  present  constitution^  which  exhibited  a  scene  of  the  most 
wide  spread  dismay  and  desolation,  it  would  be  exactly  that  term  of  seveH 
years  which  immediately  preceded  the  establishment  of  the  tariff  of  1824. 

I  have  now  to  perform  the  more  pleasing  task  of  exhibiting  an  imperfect 
sketch  of  the  existing  state  of  the  unparalleled  prosperity  of  the  country. 
On  a  general  survey,  we  behold  cultivation  extended,  the  arts  flourishing,  the 
face  (?  the  country  improved,  our  people  fully  and  profitably  employe,  and 
the  public  countenance  exhibiting  tranquillity,  contentment,  and  happiness. 
And,  if  we  descend  into  particulars,  we  have  the  agreeable  contemplation  of 
a  People  out  of  debt;  land  rising  slowly  in  value,  but  in  a  secure  and  saluta- 
i-y  degree;  a  ready,  though  not  extravagant  market  for  all  the  surplus  pro- 
ductions of  our  industry^  innumerable  nocks  and  herds  browsing  and  gam- 
bolling on  ten  thousand  hills  and  plains,  covered  with  rich  and  verdant  grasses; 
our  cities  expanded,  and  whole  villages  springing  up,  as  it  were,  by  enchant- 
ment; our  exports  and  imports  increased  and  increasing;  our  tonnage,*  fo- 

*8ee  Apptndix,  A. 


■'4 


# 


^-     i 


J 


V  f '     M 


{ 


reipi  and  coastwise,  swelUng  and  fully  occupied;  the  rivere  of  our  interior 
animated  by  the  perpetual  thunder  and  lightning  of  countless  steam  boats; 
the  currency  sound  and  abundant^  the  public  debt  of  two  wars  nearly  re- 
deemed; and,  to  crown  all,  the  public  treasury  oveflowins,  embarrassing  Con- 
fjress,  not  to  nnd  subjects  uf  taxation,  but  to  select  the  objects  which  shall  be 
iberated  from  the  impost.  If  the  term  of  seven  years  were  to  be  selected, 
of  the  gre::test  prosperity  which  this  People  have  enjoyed  since  the  establish 
ment  of  their  present  constitution,  it  would  be  exactly  that  period  of  seven 
years  which  immediately  followed  the  passage  of  the  tarift'  ot  1824. 

This  transformation  of  the  condition  of  the  country  from  sloom  rmd  dis- 
tress to  brightness  and  prosperity,  has  been  mainly  the  work  of  American 
legislation,  fostering  American  industry,  instead  of  allowing  it  to  be  controlled 
by  foreign  legislation,  cherishing  foreign  industry.  The  foes  of  the  Ameri- 
can System,  in  1824,  with  great  mildness  and  conhdence,  predicted,  1st.  The 
ruin  of  the  bublic  revenue  and  the  creation  of  a  necessity  to  resort  to  direct 
taxation.  The  gentleman  from  South  Carolina,  (General  Havne)  1  believet 
thought  that  the  tariff  of  1824  would  operate  a  reduction  of  revenue  to  the 
large  amount  of  eight  millions  of  dollars.  2d.  The  destruction  of  our  navi- 
gation. 3d.  The  desolation  of  commercial  cities.  And  4th.  The  augmenta- 
tion of  the  price  of  objects  of  consumption  and  further  decline  in  that  of  the 
articles  of  our  exports.  Every  prediction  which  they  made  has  failed — utter- 
ly failed.  Instead  of  the  ruin  of  the  public  revenue,  with  which  they  then 
sought  to  deter  us  from  the  adoption  of  the  American  System,  we  are  nowr 
threatened  with  its  subversion,  by  the  vast  amount  of  the  public  revenue  pro- 
duced by  that  System.  Everv  branch  of  our  navigation  nas  increased.  A» 
to  the  desolation  of  our  cities,  let  us  take,  as  an  example,  the  condition  of  the 
largest  and  most  commercial  of  all  ot  them,  the  great  Northern  capital.  I 
have,  in  my  hands,  the  assessed  value  of  real  estate  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
from  1817  to  1831.  *  This  value  is  canvassed,  contested,  scrutinized,  and  ad- 
judged by  the  proper  sworn  authorities.  It  is,  therefore,  entitled  to  full  cre- 
dence. During  the  first  term,  commencing  with  1817,  and  ending  in  the  year 
of  the  passage  of  the  tariff  of  1824,  the  amount  of  the  value  of  real  estate 
was,  the  first  year,  $57,799,435,  andr  after  various  fluctuations  in  the  inter- 
mediate period,  it  settled  down  at  $52,019,730,  exhibiting  a  decrease,  in  seven 
years,  of  $5,779,705.  During  the  first  year  of  1826,  after  the  passage  rf  the 
tariff,  it  rose,  and,  gradually  ascending  throughout  the  whole  of  the  latter  pe- 
riod of  seven  vears,  it  finally^  in  1831,  reached  the  astonishing  height  ot 
$95,716,485!  Now,  if  it  be  said  that  this  rapid  growth  of  the  city  ot  New 
York  was  the  effect  of  foreipi  commerce^  then  it  was  not  correctly  pre- 
dicted in  1824,  that  the  tarift  would  destroy  foreign  commerce  and  desolate 
our  commercial  cities.  If,  on  the  contrary,  it  be  the  effect  of  internal  trade, 
then  internal  trade  cannot  be  justly  chargeable  with  the  evil  consequences 
imputed  to  it.  The  truth  is,  it  is  the  joint  effect  of  both  principles,  the  do- 
mestic industry  nourishing  the  foreign  trade,  and  the  foreign  commerce,  in 
turn,  nourishing  the  domestic  industiy.  No  where,  more  than  in  New  York, 
is  the  combination  of  both  principles  so  completely  developed.  In  the  pro- 
gress of  my  argument,  I  will  consider  the  eftect  upon  the  price  of  commodi- 
ties, produced  oy  the  American  System,  and  show  that  the  very  reverse  ot 
the  jprediction  ot  its  foes,  in  1824,  has  actually  happened. 

Whilst  we  thus  behold  the  entire  failure  of  all  that  was  foretold  against  the 
System,  it  is  a  subject  of  just  felicitation  to  its  friends,  that  all  their  anticipa- 
tions of  its  benefits  have  been  fulfilled,  or  are  in  progress  of  fulfilment.  The 
honorable  gentleman  from  South  Carolina  has  made  an  allusion  to  a  speech 
made  by  me,  in  1824,  in  the  other  House,  in  support  of  the  tariff,  and  to 
which,  otherwise.  I  should  not  nave  particularly  referred.  But  I  would  ask 
any  one,  who  could  now  command  the  courage  to  peruse  that  long  production, 
what  principle  there  laid  down  is  not  trueFwhat  prediction  then  made  has 
been  falsified  by  practical  experience.'* 

It  is  now  proposed  to  abolish  the  system,  to  which  we  owe  so  much  of  the 
public  prosperity,  and  it  is  urged  that  the  arrival  of  the  period  of  the  redemp- 

*  See  Appendix,  B,  for  the  dotument  relWrred  to. 


.^3^. 


r  interior 
m  boats; 
early  re- 
ling  Con- 
w  shall  be 
selected, 
establish 
ut'  seven 

nnd  tlis- 
American 
control  led 
»e  Ameri- 
,  1st.  The 
t  to  direct 
1  believe, 
me  to  the 
our  navi- 
lugmenta- 
hat  of  the 
ed— -utter- 

they  then 
fe  are  now 
venue  pro- 
>ased.  A» 
rtion  of  the 
capiiaU  I 
Sew  York, 
ed,andad' 
to  full  cre- 
in  the  year 

real  estate 
1  the  inter- 
ne, in  seven 
sage  of  the 
e  latter  pe- 
;  height  ot 
ty  ot  New 
rectly  pre- 
nd  desolate 
Tnal  trade, 
nsequences 
es,  the  do- 
mmerce,  in 
New  York, 

n  thepro- 

cominodi- 
reverse  ot 

against  the 
ir  anticipa- 
ment.  The 
a  speech 
.riff,  and  to 
would  ask 
production, 
n  made  has 

nuch  of  the 
he  redemp- 


tion of  the  public  debt  has  been  contidenlly  looked  to  as  prcscnlini;  a  suitable 
occasion  to  rid  the  country  of  the  evils  with  which  the  system  is  alleged  to 
be  fraught.  Not  an  inattentive  observer  of  passing  events,  I  have  been  aware, 
that,  among  those  who  were  most  eagerly  pressing  the  payment  of  the  public 
debt,  and,  upon  that  ground,  were  opposing  appropriations  to  other  great  inte- 
rests! there  were  some  who  cared  less  about  the  debt  than  the  accomplishment 
of  other  objects.  But  the  People  of  the  United  States  have  not  coupled  the 
payment  ot  their  public  debt  with  the  destruction  of  th3  protection  of  their 
industry,  against  Foreign  laws  and  foreign  industry.  They  have  been  accus- 
tomed to  regard  the  extinction  of  the  public  debt  as  relief  from  a  burthen, 
and  not  as  ^e  infliction  of  a  curse.  If  it  is  to  be  attended  or  followed  by  the 
subversion  of  the  American  system,  and  an  exposure  of  our  establishments 
and  our  productions  to  the  un^arded  consequences  of  the  selfish  policy  of  fo- 
reign Powers,  the  payment  orthc  public  debt  will  be  the  bitterest  of  curves. 
Its  fruit  will  be  like  the  fruit 

"        "Of  that  forbidden  tree,  whose  mortal  taste 

**  Brought  death  into  the  world,  and  all  our  woe, 
«*  With  loss  of  Eden." 

If  th".  system  of  protection  be  founded  on  principles  erroneous  in  theory,  per- 
nicious in  practice— above  all,  if  it  be  unconstitutional,  as  is  alleged,  it  ought 
to  be  forthwith  abolished,  and  not  a  vesti;;o  of  it  suffered  to  remai'.i.  But,  be- 
fore we  sanction  this  sweeping  denunciation,  let  us  look  a  little  at  this  system, 
its  magnitude,  its  ramifications,  its  duration,  and  the  high  authorities  which 
have  sustained  it.  We  shall  see  that  its  foes  will  have  accomplished  compara- 
tively nothinjg,  after  having  achieved  their  present  aim  of  breaking  down  our 
iron-founderies,  our  woollen,  cotton,  and  hemp  manufactories,  and  our  sugar 
plantations.  The  destruction  of  these  would,  undoubtedly,  lead  to  the  sacri- 
fice of  immense  capital,  the  ruin  of  many  thousands  of  our  fellow  citizens, 
and  incalculable  loss  to  the  whole  c()mmunity.  But  their  prostration  would 
not  disfigure,  nor  produce  greater  effect  upon  the  whole  system  of  protection, 
in  all  its  branches,  than  the  destruction  of  the  beautiful  domes  upon  the  Cap- 
itol would  occasion  to  the  magnificent  edifice  which  they  surmount.  Why, 
sir,  there  is  scarcely  an  interest,  scarcely  a  vocation  in  society,  which  is  not 
embraced  by  the  beneficence  of  this  system. 

It  comprehends  our  coasting  tonnage  and  trade,  from  which  all  foreign  ton- 
nase  is  absolutely  excluded. 

It  includes  all  our  foreign  tonnage,  with  the  inconsiderable  exception  made 
by  treaties  of  reciprocity  with  a  few  foreign  Powers. 

It  embraces  our  fisheries,  and  all  our  hardy  and  enterprising  fishermen. 

It  extends  to  almost  every  mechanic  art:  to  tanners,  cordwainers,  tailor.^^ 
cabinet-makers,  hatters,  tinners,  brass-workers,  clock-makers,  coach-,  in- 
kers, tallow-chandlers,  trace-makers,  rope-makers,  cork-cutters,  tobacconists, 
whip-makers,  paper  makers,  umbrella-makers, glass-blowers,  stocking-weav- 
ers, butter-makers,  saddle  and  harness-^'nakers,  cutlers,  brusti-makei-s,  book- 
binders, dairy-men,  milk-farmers,  black  smiths,  type-founders,  musical  in- 
strument-makers, basket-makers^  milliners,  potters,  chocolate -makers,  floor- 
cloth m^ers,  bonnet-makers,  hair-cloth-makers,  copper-smiths,  pencil  ma- 
kers, bellows  makers,  pocket  book-makers,  card-makers,  glue-makers,  mus- 
tard-makers, lumber-sawyers,  saw-makers,  scale-beam-makers,  scythe-ma- 
kers, wood-saw-makers,  and  many  others.  The  mechanics  enumerated  enjoy 
a  measure  of  protection  adapted  to  their  several  conditions,  varying  from  twen- 
ty to  fifty  per  cent.  The  extent  and  importance  of  some  of  these  artizans  may 
be  estimated  by  a  few  particulars.  The  tanners,  curriers,  boot  and  shoe-ma- 
kers, and  other  workers  in  hides,  skins,  aiid  leather,  produce  an  ultimate 
value  per  annum  of  forty  millions  of  dollars;  the  manufacturers  of  liats  and 
cans  produce  an  annual  value  of  fifteen  millions;  the  cabinet-makers,  twelve 
millions:  the  manufacturers  of  bonnets  and  hats  for  the  female  sex,  lace,  ar- 
tificial flowers,  combs,  &c.,  seven  millions:  and  the  manufacturers  of  glass, 
five  mulions. 


\l  .1 


6 

It  extends  to  all  lower  LouiHiana^  the  Delta  of  which  might  as  well  be  tub- 
merged  again  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  from  which  it  has  Men  a  gradual  con- 
quest, as  now  to  be  deprived  of  the  protecting  duty  upon  its  great  staple. 

It  aftects  the  cotton  planter*  himself,  and  the  tobacco  planter,  both  of  whom 
enjov  protection. 

The  total  amount  of  the  capitalf  vested  in  sheep,  the  land  to  sustain  them, 
wool,  woollen  manufactures,  and  woollen  fabrics,  and  the  subsistence  of  the 
various  persons  directly  or  indirectly  employed  in  the  growth  and  manufac- 
ture of  tne  article  of  wool,  is  estimated  at  one  hundred  and  sixty-seven  mil- 
lions of  dollars^  and  the  number  of  persons  at  150,000. 

The  value  of  iron,  considered  as  a  raw  material,  and  of  its  manufactures* 
is  estimated  at  twenty-six  millions  of  dollars  per  annum.  Cotton  goods,  ex- 
clusive of  the  capital  vested  in  the  manufacture,  and  of  the  cost  of  the  raw  ma- 
terial, are  believed  to  amount,  annually,  to  about  twenty  millions  of  dollars. 

These  estimates  have  been  carefully  made,  by  practical  men,  of  undoubted 
character,  who  have  brought  together  and  embodied  their  information.  Anx- 
ious to  avoid  the  charge  of  exaggeration,  they  have  sometimes  placed  ttieir  es- 
timates below  what  was  believed  to  be  the  actual  amount  of  these  interests. 
With  regard  to  the  quantity  of  bar  and  other  iron  annually  produced,  it  is 
derived  frum  the  known  works  themselves;  and  I  know  some  in  Western 
States  which  they  have  omitted  in  their  calculations. 

Such  are  some  of  the  items  of  this  vast  system  of  protection,  which  it  is  now 
proposed  to  abandon.    We  might  well  pause  and  contemplate,  if  human  ima- 

S'  nation  could  conceive  the  extent  of  mischief  and  ruin  from  its  total  over- 
row,  before  we  proceed  to  the  work  of  destruction.  Its  duration  is  worthy, 
also,  of  serious  consideration.  Not  to  go  behind  the  constitution,  its  date  is 
coeval  with  that  instrument.  It  began  on  the  ever  memorable  4th  dav  ot 
July — the  4th  day  of  July.  1789.  The  second  act  which  stands  recorded  in 
the  statute  book,  bearing  the  illustrious  signature  of  Georee  Washington,  laid 
the  corner  stone  of  the  whole  system.  That  there  might  be  no  mistake  about 
the  matter,  it  was  then  solemnly  proclaimed  to  the  American  People  and  to 
the  world,  that  it  was  necessary  for  "the  encouragement  and  protection  of 
manufactures,"  that  duties  should  be  laid.  It  is  in  vain  to  urge  the  small 
amount  of  the  measure  of  protection  then  extended.  The  great  principle  was 
then  established  by  the  fathers  of  the  constitution,  with  the  Father  of  his  Coun- 
try at  their  head.  And  it  cannot  now  be  questioned,  that,  if  the  Government 
had  not  then  been  new  and  the  subject  untried,  a  greater  measure  of  protec- 
tion would  have  been  applied,  if  it  had  been  supposed  necessary.  Shortly 
after, the  masterminds  of  JeiTerson  and  Hamilton  were  brought  to  act  on  this 
interesting  subject.  Taking  views  of  it  appertaining  ^  the  departments  of 
foreign  afmirs  and  of  the  treasury,  which  they  respectively  filled,  they  pre- 
sented, severally,  reports  which  yet  remain  monuments  of  their  profound  wis- 
dom, and  came  to  the  same  conclusion  of  protection  to  American  industry. 
Mr.  Jefferson  argued  that  foreign  restrictions,  foreign  prohibitions,  and  foreign 
high  duties,  ought  to  be  met,  at  home,  by  American  restrictions,  American 
prohibitions,  and  American  high  duties.  Mr.  Hamilton,  surveying  the  entire 
ground,  and  looking  at  the  inherent  nature  of  the  subiect,  treateilit  with  an 
ability  which,  if  ever  equalled,  has  not  been  surpassed,  and  earnestly  recom- 
menoed  protection. 

The  wars  of  the  French  Revolution  commenced  about  this  period,  and 
streams  of  gold  poured  into  the  United  States  through  a  thousand  channels, 
opened  or  enlarged  by  the  successfiil  commerce  which  our  neutrality  enabled 
us  to  prosecute.  We  forgot  or  overlooked,  in  the  general  prosperity,  the  ne- 
cessity of  encouraging  our  domestic  manufactures.  Then  came  the  edicts  of 
Napoleon,  and  the  British  orders  in  council;  and  our  embargo^  non-inter- 
course, non -importation,  and  war^  followed  in  rapid  succession.    These  na- 

*  iTo  say  nothing  of  cotton  produced  in  other  foreigpi  countries,  the  cultiv»tion  of 
this  article,  of  a  very  superior  quality,  is  constantly  extending  in  the  adjacent  Mex- 
ican provinces,  and,  but  for  the  duty,  probably  a  large  amount  would  be  introduced 
into  the  United  States,  down  Red  river  and  along  the  coast  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

f  See  report  in  Appendix,  ourked  C.  ' 


f/^ 


*», 


veil  be  tub- 
radual  con- 
staple. 
>th  of  whom 

iRtainthem, 
ence  of  the 
id  manufac- 
•seven  mil- 

inufactures, 
fi  goods,  ex- 
the  raw  ma- 
of  dollars. 
f  undoubted 
tion.  Anx- 
;cdtlieir  cs- 
id  interests, 
xluced,  it  iA 
in  Western 

ich  it  is  now 

human  ima- 

» total  over- 

n  is  worthy, 

I,  its  date  is 

!  4th  dav  o( 

recordea  in 

lington,  laid 

istakc  about 

!ople  and  to 

)roteelion  of 

;e  the  small 

irinciple  wa» 

i)f  his  Coun- 

Government 

of  protec- 

^    Shortly 

act  on  this 

kirtments  of 

,  they  pre- 

ofound  wis- 

m  industry. 

and  foreign 

,  American 

g  the  entire 

it  with  an 

istly  recom- 

period,  and 
d  channels, 
ity  enabled 
•ity,  the  ne- 
he  edicts  of 
non-inter- 
Theie  na- 

mltivfttion  of 
ijacent  Mex. 
e  introduced 
r  Mexico. 


tional  measures,  amounting  to  a  total  suspension,  fur  the  period  of  their  du- 
ration, of  our  foreign  commerce,  afforded  the  most  efficaciuuA  encouragement 
to  American  manufactures;  and,  accordingly,  they  every  where  sprung  up. 
Whilst  these  measures  of  restriction  and  this  state  of  war  continued,  the  man- 
ufacturers were  stimulated  in  their  enterprises  by  every  assurance  of  support, 
by  public  sehtiment,  and  by  legislative  resolves.  It  was  about  that  period 
(1808)  that  South  Carolina  bore  ner  high  testimony  to  the  wiMlom  of  the  poli- 
cy, in  an  act  of  her  Legislature,  the  preamble  of  which,  now  before  me,  reads, 
*^  Whereas  the  establisliment  and  encouragement  of  domestic  manufactures  is 
conducive  to  the  interest  of  a  State,  by  adding  new  incentives  to  industry^ 
and  as  being  the  means  of  disposing,  to  advantage,  the  surplus  productions 
of  the  agriculturist:  And  whereas,  in  the  present  unexampled  state  of  the 
world,  their  establishment  in  our  country  is  not  only  expedient,  but  politic,  in 
rendering  us  independent  of  foreign  nations."  The  Le^slature,  not  beine 
competent  to  afford  the  most  efficacious  aid,  by  imposing  duties  on  foreign  rival 
articles,  proceeded  to  incorporate  a  company. 

Peace,  under  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  returned  in  1815,  but  there  did  not  re- 
turn with  it  the  golden  days  which  preceded  the  edicts  levelled  at  our  com- 
merce by  Great  Biitain  and  France.  It  found  all  Europe  tranquilly  resum- 
ing the  arts  and  the  business  of  civil  life.  It  found  Europe  no  longer  the  con- 
sumer of  our  surplus,  and  the  employer  of  our  navigation,  but  excluding,  or 
heavily  burdening,  almost  all  the  productions  of  our  agriculture;  and  our  ri- 
vals in  manufactures ,  in  navigation,  and  in  commerce.  It  found  our  country, 
in  short,  in  a  situation  totally  different  from  all  the  past — new  and  untried. 
It  became  necessary  :o  adapt  our  laws,  and  especially  our  laws  of  impost,  to 
the  new  circumstances  in  which  we  found  ourselves.  Accordingly,  that  em- 
inent and  lamented  citizen,  then  at  the  head  of  the  treasury,  (Mr.  Dallas) 
was  required,  by  a  rr  solution  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  under  date  the 
33d  day  of  February,  1815,  to  prepare  and  report  to  the  succeeding  session  ot 
Congress  a  system  of  revenue  conformable  with  the  actual  condition  of  the 
country.  He  had  the  circle  of  a  whole  year  to  perform  the  work,  consulted 
merchants,  manufacturers',  and  other  practical  men,  and  opened  an  extensive 
correspondence.  The  report  which  he  made,  at  the  session  of  1816,  was  the 
result  of  his  inquiries  and  reflections,  and  embodies  the  principles  which  he 
thought  applicable  to  the  subject.  It  has  been  said  that  the  tariff  of  1816  was 
a  measure  of  mere  revenue;  and  that  it  only  reduced  the  war  duties  to  a 
peace  standard.  It  is  true,  that  the  question  then  was,  how  much,  and  in 
what  way,  should  the  double  duties  of  tne  war  be  reduced.^  Now,  also,  the 
question  is,  on  what  articles  shall  the  duties  be  reduced  so  as  to  subject  the 
amount  of  the  future  revenue  to  the  wants  of  the  Government?  Then  It  was 
deemed  an  inquiry  of  the  first  importance,  as  it  should  be  now,  how  the  re- 
duction should  be  made,  so  as  to  secure  proper  encouragement  to  our  domes- 
tic industry.  That  this  was  a  leading  oDJect  in  the  arrangement  of  the  tariff 
of  1616, 1  well  remember,  and  it  is  demonstrated  by  the  language  of  Mr.  Dal- 
las. He  says,  in  his  report,  ''There  are  few,  if  any  Gover.  .nents,  which  do 
*'  not  regard  the  establishment  of  domestic  manufactures  as  a  chief  obtject  ot 
"  public  policy.  The  United  States  hav«  alwai/s  so  regarded  it.  *  *  *  • 
"  The  demands  of  the  country,  while  the  acquisition  ofsupplies  from  foreign 
**  nations  was  either  prohibited  or  impracticable,  may  have  afforded  a  sum- 
*  *  cient  inducement  for  this  investment  of  capital,  and  tnis  application  of  labor; 
'*  but  the  inducement,  in  its  necessary  extent,  must  fail,  when  the  day  of  com- 
^^  petition  returns.  Upon  that  change  in  the  condition  of  the  country,  the  preser- 
*'  vation  of  the  manufactures,  which  private  citizens,  under  favorable  auspices, 
*'  have  constituted  tlie  property  of  the  nation,  becomes  a  consideration  of  gen- 
*'  eral  policy,  to  be  resolved  by  a  recollection  of  past  embarrassments;  by  the 
*'  certainty  of  an  increased  difficulty  of  reinstating,  upon  any  emergency,  the 
'*  manufactures  which  shall  be  allowed  to  perish  and  pass  away,"  one.  The 
measure  of  protection  which  he  proposed  was  not  adopted,  in  regard  to  some 
leading  articles,  and  there  was  great  difficulty  in  ascertaining  what  it  ought 
to  have  been .  But  the  principle  was  then  distinctly  asserted,  and  fully  sanc- 
tioned. 


1^ 


! 


li 


:! 


8 

The  subject  n|  the  Ameriran  System  was  again  hrnught  up  in  1820,  by  thr 
bill  reported  by  the  ('hairman  of  th«!  (committee  ut'  AluiiutartureH,  now  n 
member  of  the  bench  ut'  the  Supreme  ('ourt  ot"  the  United  .States,  and  the 

Erinciple  was  HUcceHntrully  maintained  by  the  repreHentatives  ut'  the  I'cople; 
ut  the  bill  which  they  passed  was  defeated  in  the  Senate.  It  watt  revived  in 
1884,  the  whole  ground  carefully  and  deliberately  explored,  and  the  bill,  then 
intniduccd,  receiving  all  the  sanctions  of  the  constitution,  became  the  law  of 
the  land.  An  amendment  of  the  system  was  proposed  in  isao,  to  the  history 
of  which  I  refer  with  no  agreeable  recollections.  The  bill  of  that  year,  in  some 
of  its  provisions,  was  framed  on  principles  directly  adverse  to  the  declared 
wishes  of  the  friends  of  the  policy  ot  protection*  I  have  heard*  (without 
vouching  for  the  fact)  that  it  was  so  framed,  upon  the  advice  of  a  prominent 
citizen,  now  abroad,  with  the  view  of  ultimately  defeating  the  bill,  and  with 
assurances  that,  being  altogether  unacceptable  to  the  friends  of  the  American 
System,  the  bill  would  be  lost.  Be  that  as  it  may,  the  most  exceptionable 
features  of  the  bill  were  stamped  upon  it,  against  the  earnest  remonstrances  of 
the  friends  of  the  system,  by  the  votes  of  Southern  members,  up<m  a  principle. 
I  think,  as  unsound  in  legislation  as  it  in*  reprehensible  in  ethics.  The  bill 
was  passed,  notwithstanding;  it  having  been  deemed  better  to  take  the  bad  along 
with  the  gooil  which  it  contained,  than  reject  it  altogether.  Subsequent  legisla- 
tion has  corrected  very  much  the  error  then  perpetrated,  but  still  that  measure 
is  vehemently  denounced  by  gentlemen  who  contributed  to  make  it  what  it  was. 

'Ihus,  sir,  has  this  great  system  of  protection  bee.i  gradually  built,  stone 
upon  stone,  and  step  by  step,  from  the  4th  of  July,  1789,  down  to  the  present 
period.  In  every  stage  of  its  progress  it  has  received  the  deliberate  sanction 
of  Congress.  A  vast  majority  of  the  People  of  the  United  States  has  approved, 
and  continues  to  approve  it.  Every  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  United  States, 
from  Washington  to  the  present,  in  some  form  or  other,  has  given  to  it  the 
authority  of  his  name;  ana  however  the  opinions  of  the  existing  President  are 
interpreted  South  of  Mason's  and  Dixon's  line,  on  the  North  they  are,  at 
least,  understood  to  favor  the  establishment  of  aiudicioua  tariff*. 

The  question,  therefore,  which  we  are  now  called  upon  to  determine,  is  not 
whether  we  shall  establish  a  new  and  doubtful  svstem  of  policy,  just  proposed, 
and  fur  the  first  tinle  presented  to  our  consiaeration;  but  whether  we  shall 
break  down  and  destroy  a  long  established  system^  patiently  and  carefully 
built  up,  and  sanctioned,  during  a  series  of  years,  again  and  again,  by  the 
nation  and  its  highest  and  most  revered  authorities.  And  are  we  not  bound 
deliberately  to  consider  whether  wc  can  proceed  to  this  work  of  destruction 
without  a  violation  of  the  public  faith?  Tne  People  of  the  United  States  have 
Justiv  supposed  that  the  policy  of  protecting  their  industry,  against  ybretfn 
legislation  and/oret£7i  industry,  was  fully  settled,  not  by  a  single  act,  but  oy 
repeated  and  deliberate  acts  of  Government,  performed  at  distant  and  fre- 
qent  intervals.  In  full  confidence  that  the  policy  was  firmly  and  unchangea- 
bly fixed,  thousands  upon  thousands  have  invested  their  capital,  purchased  a 
vast  amount  of  real  and  other  estate,  made  permanent  establishments,  and 
accommodated  their  indMStry.  Can  ive  expose  to  utter  and  irretrievable  ruin 
this  countless  multitude,  without  justly  incurring  the  reproach  ot  violating  the 
national  faith? 

I  shall  not  discuss  the  constitutional  question.  Without  meaning  anv  dis- 
respect to  those  who  raise  it,  if  it  be  debateable,  it  has  been  sufliciently  de- 
bated. The  gentleman  from  South  Carolina  suffered  it  to  fall  unnoticed  from 
his  budget;  and  it  was  not  until  after  he  had  closed  his  speech  and  resumed 
his  seat,  that  it  occurred  to  him  that  he  had  forgotten  it,  when  he  again  ad- 
dressed the  Senate,  and,  by  a  sort  of  protestation  against  any  conclusion  from 
his  silence,  put  forward  the  objection.  The  recent  Free  Trade  Convention 
at  Philadelphia,  it  is  well  known,  were  divided  on  the  question;  and  although 
the  topic  is  noticed  in  their  address  to  the  public,  they  do  not  at)ow  their  own 
belitfthit  the  American  System  is  unconstitutional,  but  represent  that  suchi^ 
the  opinion  of  respectable  portions  of  the  American  People.  Another  address 
to  the  People  of  tiie  United  States,  from  a  high  source,  during  the  past  year, 
treating  this  subject,  does  not  assert  the  opinion  of  the  distinguished  author, 
but  stcUea  that  ot  others  to  be  that  it  is  unconstitutional.  From  which  I  infer 
that  he  did  not,  himself,  believe  itujiconstitutional. 


was 
W 

than 

twlic 
[I^ 

tiun 

contr 
I 


ever 
not? 
It  ne 
tion. 


i 


1 


1830,  by  the 
ireH,  now  n 
pn,  nml  the 
Ihe  l*co|)lej 
»  rev i veil  in 
le  bill,  then 
J  the  law  of 

the  history 
;ar,  in  somo 
le  declared 
tl*  (without 

prominent 
II,  and  with 
e  American 
ceptionable 
istrances  of  , 
a  principle,  \ 
I.  Thebili  ^ 
le  bad  along 
lent  legisla- 
lat  measure 
ivhat  it  was. 
}uilt,  stone 
the  present 
ite  sanction 
s approved, 
ited  States, 
;ntoit  the 
esident  are 
they  are,  at 


mine,  is  not 
it  proposed, 
er  we  shall 
1  carefully 
lin,  by  the 
not  bound 
lestruction 
States  have 
ist  foreign 
act,  but  oy 
it  and  fre- 
mchangea- 
urchased  a 
nents,  and 
ivable  ruin 
olating  the 

§  anv  dis- 

lentfy  de- 

ticed  from 

resumed 

ajgain  ad- 
jsion  from 
Convention 
1  although 

their  own 
lat  aiich  is 
er  address 


I 


past  year, 
ed  author, 
Ich  I  infer 


9 

[Here  the  Vice  Prenidpnt  interposed,  and  i e/nurked  that,  il  the  Sennlor  Iroiu 
Kentucky  alluded  tw  him,  hu  must  say  that  his  opinion  was,  that  the  measure 
was  unconstitutional.] 

When,  sir,  1  contendetl  with  you,  side  by  side,  and  with  perhaps  less  xcal 
than  you  exhibited,  in  181C,  I  did  not  understaiMl  you  then  to  consider  the 
|M)licy  f«irbidden  by  the  constitution.        • 

[The  Vice  i'resident  again  interposed,  and  said  that  the  constitutional  ques- 
tion was  not  debated  at  that  time,  and  that  he  had  never  expressed  an  opiruon 
contrary  t<»  that  now  intimated.  ] 

I  give  way  with  pleasure  to  these  explanations,  which  I  hope  will  always  be 
made  when  I  say  any  thing  bearing  on  the  individual  opinions  of  the  tfhair. 
\  know  the  delicacy  of  the  position,  and  sympathise  with  the  incumbent,  who- 
ever he  may  be.  It  is  true,  the  ouestion  was  not  debated  in  1816:  and  why 
not?  Because  it  was  not  debateabic;  it  was  then  believed  not  fairly  to  arise. 
it  never  has  been  made,  as  a  distinct,  substantial,  and  leading  point  of  objec- 
tion. It  never  was  made  until  the  discussion  of  the  tarift"  of  1824,*  when  it 
was  rather  hinted  at,  as  against  the  spirit  of  the  constitution,  than  formally 
announced,  as  being  contrary  to  the  provisions  of  that  instrument.  What  was 
not  dreamt  of  before,  or  in,  1816,  and  scarcely  thought  of  in  1824,  is  now  made, 
by  excited  imaginations,  to  assume  the  iAnposing  form  of  a  serious  constitu- 
tional barrier. 

Such  are  the  origin,  duration,  extent,  and  sanctions  of  the  policy  which  we 
are  now  called  upon  to  subvert.  Its  beneficial  effects,  altnough  they  may 
vary  in  degree,  have  been  felt  in  all  parts  of  the  Union.  To  none,  I  verily 
believe,  has  it  been  prejudicial.  ^  To  the  North,  every  where,  testimonies  arc 
born  J  to  the  high  prosperity  which  it  has  diftused.  There,  all  branches  of 
industry  are  animated  and  flourishing.  Commerce,  foreign  and  domestic 
activej  cities  and  towns  springing  up,  enlarging  and  beautifying;  navigation 
fully  and  profitably  employed,  and  the  whole  face  of  the  country  smiling  with 
improvement,  cheerfulness,  and  abundance.  The  gentleman  from  South 
Carolina  has  supposed  that  we,  in  the  West,  derive  no  advantages  from  this 
system.  He  is  mistaken.  Let  him  visit  us,  and  he  will  find,  from  the  head 
of  La  Belle  Riviere,  at  Pittsburg,  to  America,  at  its  mouth,  the  most  rapid  and 

f ratifying  advances.  He  will  behold  Pittsburg  itself,  Wheeling,  Portsmouth, 
laysville,  Cincinnati,  Louisville,  and  numerous  other  towns,  lining  and  or- 
namenting the  banks  ot  that  noble  river,  daily  extending  their  limits,  and 
prosecuting,  with  the  greatest  spirit  and  profit,  numerous  branches  ot  the 
manufacturing  and  mechanic  arts.  If  he  will  go  into  the  interior,  in  the 
State  of  Ohio,  he  will  there  perceive  the  most  astonishing  progress  in  agricul- 
ture, in  the  useful  arts,  and  in  all  the  improvements  to  which  they  both  di- 
rectly conduce.  Then  let  him  cross  over  into  my  own,  my  favorite  State 
and  contcinolate  the  spectacle  which  is  there  exhibited.  He  will  perceive 
numerous  villages,  not  large,  but  neat,  thriving,  and  some  of  them  highly  or- 
namented; many  manufactories  of  hemp,  cotton,  wool,  and  other  articles 
In  various  parts  of  the  country,  and  especially  in  the  Elkhorn  region,  an  end- 
less succession  of  natural  parks;  the; forests  thinned;  fallen  trees  and  under- 
growth cleared  away;  large  herds  and  flocks  feeding  on  luxuriant  grasses: 
and  interspersed  with  comfortable,  sometimes  elegant  mansions,  surrounded 
by  extensive  lawns.  The  honorable  gentleman  from  South  Carolina  says, 
that  a  profitable  trade  was  carried  on  from  the  West,  through  the  Seleuda  gap, 
in  mules,  horses,  and  other  live  stock,  which  has  been  cliecked  by  the  opera- 
tion ot  the  tarift.  It  is  true  that  such  a  trade  was  carried  on  between  Ken- 
tucky and  South  Carolina,  mutually  beneficial  to  both  parties;  but,  several 
years  ago,  resolutions,  at  popular  meetings,  in  Carolina,  were  adopted,  not  to 
purchase  the  produce  of  Kentucky,  by  way  of  punishment  for  her  attachment 
to  the  tarift.  They  must  have  supposed  us  as  stupid  as  the  sires  of  one  of  the 
descnptions  of  the  stock,  of  which  that  trade  consisted,  if  they  imagined  that 
their  resolutions  would  aftect  our  principles.  Our  drovers  cracked  their 
whips,  blew  ttieir  horns,  and  passed  the  Seleuda  gap,  to  other  markets,  where 
better  humors  existed,  and  equal  or  greater  profits  were  made.    I  have  heard 

•  Mr.  Clay  has  been  since  reminded  that  the  objection,  in  the  same  wav,  was  first 
Urged  in  tlie  debate  of  1830. 


I 


II 


!■   ; 


.1 


10 

of  your  successor  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  Mr.  President,  this  anec- 
ilote;  that  he  joined  in  the  adoption  of  those  resolutions,  but  >vhen,  about 
Christmas,  he  applied  to  one  of  nis  South  Carolina  neighbors  to  purchase  the 
regular  supply  of  pork,  for  the  ensuing  year,  he  found  that  he  ^d  to  give  two 
prices  for  it;  and  he  declared  if  that  were  the  patriotism  on  which  the  resolu- 
tions were  based,  he  would  not  conform  to  them,  and,  in  point  of  fact,  laid  in 
his  annual  stock  of  pork  by  purchase  from  the  first  passing  Kentucky  drover. 
That  trade,  now  partially  resumed,  was  maintained  by  the  sale  of  Western 
productions,  on  the  one  side,  and  Carolina  money  on  the  other.  From  that 
condition  of  it,  the  gentleman  from  South  Carolina  might  have  drawn  this 
conclusion,  that  an  advantageous  trade  mav  exist,  although  one  of  the  parties 
to  it  pays  in  specie  for  the  productions  which  he  purchases  from  the  other; 
and,  consequently,  that  it  does  not  follow,  it  we  did  not  purchase  British 
fabrics,  that  it  might  not  be  the  interest  of  England  to  purchase  our  raw  ma- 
terial of  cotton.  The  Kentucky  drover  received  the  South  Carolina  specie, 
or,  taking  bills,  or  the  evidences  of  deposite  in  the  banks,  carried  these 
home,  and  disposing  of  them  to  the  merchant,  he  brought  out  goods,  of  foreign 
or  domestic  manufacture,  in  return.  Such  is  the  circuitous  nature  of  trade 
and  remittance,  which  no  nation  understands  better  than  Great  Britain. 

Nor  has  the  system,  which  has  been  the  parent  source  of  so  much  benefit 
to  other  parts  ot  the  Union,  proved  injurious  to  the  cotton  growing  country. 
1  cannot  speak  of  South  Carolina  itself,  where  I  have  never  been,^  with  so 
much  certainty;  but  of  other  portions  of  the  Union  in  which  cotton  is  grown, 
especially  those  bordering  on  the  Mississippi,  I  can  confidently  speak.  It' 
cotton  planting  is  less  profitable  than  it  was,  that  is  the  result  of  increased 
production;  but  I  believe  it  to  be  still  the  most  profitable  investment  of  capi- 
tal of  any  branch  of  business  in  the  United  States.  And  if  a  committee  were 
raised,  with  power  to  send  for  persons  and  papers,  I  take  upon  myself  to  say, 
that  such  would  be  the  lesult  of  the  inquiry.  In  Kentucky,  I  Know  many 
individuals  who  have  their  cotton  plantations  below,  and  retain  their  resi- 
dence in  that  State,  where  they  remain  during  the  sickly  season;  and  they 
are  all,  I  believe,  without  exception,  doing  well.  Others,  tempted  by  their 
success,  are  constantly  engaging  in  the  business,  whilst  scarcely  any  comes 
from  the  cotton  region  to  engage  in  western  agriculture.  A  friend,  now  in 
my  eye,  a  member  of  this  body,  upon  a  capital  of  less  than  seventy  thousand 
dollars,  invested  in  a  plantation  and  slaves,  made,  the  year  before  last,  six- 
teen thousand  dollars.  A  member  of  the  other  House,  I  understand,  who, 
without  removing  himself,  sent  some  of  his  slaves  to  Mississippi,  made,  last 
yeai',  about  twenty  per  cent.  Two  friends  of  mine,  in  the  latter  State, 
whose  annual  income  is  from  thirty  to  sixty  thousand  dollars,  being  desirous 
to  curtail  their  business,  have  offered  estates  for  sale,  which  they  are  willing 
to  show,  by  regular  vouchers  of  receipt  and  disbursement,  yield  eighteen 
per  cent,  per  annum.  One  ot  my  most  opulent  acquaintances,  in  a  county 
adjoining  to  that  in  which  I  reside^  having  married  in  Georgia,  has  derived  a 
large  portion  of  his  wealth  from  a  cotton  estate  there  situated. 

The  loss  of  the  tonnage  of  Charleston,  which  has  been  dwelt  on,  doe?;  not 
proceed  from  the  tariff;  it  never  had  a  very  large  amount,  and  it  has  not  been 
able  to  retain  what  it  had,  in  consequence  of  the  operation  of  the  principle  of 
free  trade  on  its  navigation.  Its  tonnage  has  gone  to  the  more  enterprising 
and  adventurous  tars  of  the  Northern  States,  with  whom  those  of  the  city  of 
Charleston  could  not  maintain  a  successful  competition,  in  the  freedom  of 
the  coasting  trade  existing  between  the  different  parts  of  the  Union.  That 
this  must  be  the  true  cause,  is  demonstrated  by  the  fact,  that,  however  it  may 
be  with  the  port  of  Charleston,  our  coasting  tonnage,  generally,  is  constantly 
increasing.  As  to  the  foreign  tonnage,  about  one  halfof  that  which  is  engag- 
ed in  the  direct  trade  between  Charleston  and  Great  Britain,  is  English; 
proving  that  the  tonnage  of  South  Carolina  cannot  maintain  itself  in  a  com  ■■ 
petition,  under  the  tree  and  equal  navigation  secured  by  our  treaty  witli  that 
Power. 

When  gentlemen  have  succeeded  in  their  design  ot  an  immediate  or  gradu- 
al destruction  of  the  American  System,  what  is  their  substitute  ?  Free  trade  !  • 
Frc«  trade  !    The  call  for  free  trade,  is  as  unavailing  as  the  cry  of  a  spoiled 


t, 


it,  this  anec- 
yvhen,  about 
purchase  the 
1  to  give  two 
h  the  resolu- 
'  fact,  laid  in 
ucky  drover, 
of  Western 
From  that 
drawn  this 
>f  the  parties 
n  the  other; 
liase  British 
our  raw  ina- 
olina  specie, 
arried  these 
Is,  of  foreign 
ure  of  trade 
Britain, 
nuch  benefit 
ing  country, 
en,  with  so 
on  is  grown, 
'  speak.    If 
if  increased 
ient  of  capi- 
imittee  were 
yself  to  say. 
Know  many 
their  resi- 
n;  and  they 
ted  by  their 
f  any  comes 
jnd,  now  in 
ty  thousand 
re  last,  six- 
itand,  who, 
made,  last 
tter  State, 
ng  desirous 
are  willing 
eighteen 
a  county 
s  derived  a 

n,  does  not 
as  not  been 
irinciple  of 
nterprising 
the  city  of 
reedom  of 
ion.  That 
;ver  it  may 
constantly 
1  is  engag- 
is  English; 
in  a  com  ■■ 
witli  tliat 

eorgradu- 
Vee  trade !  • 
'  a  spoiled 


11 

child,  in  its  nurse's  arms,  for  the  moon  or  the  stars  that  glitter  in  the  firma- 
ment of  heaven.  It  never  has  existed:  it  never  will  exist.  Trade  implies, 
at  least,  two  parties.  To  be  free,  it  should  be  fair,  equal,  and  reciprocal. 
Yiut  if  we  throw  our  ports  wide  open  to  the  admission  ot  foreign  productions, 
free  of  all  duty,  what  ports,  of  any  other  fcieign  nation,  sliall  we  find  open 
to  the  free  admission  ot  our  surplus  produce  }  We  may  break  down  all  bar- 
riers to  free  trade,  on  our  part^  but  the  work  will  not  be  complete  until 
foreign  Powers  shall  have  removed  theirs.  There  would  be  freedom  on  one 
side,  and  restrictions,  prohibitions,  and  exclusions,  on  the  other.  The  bolts, 
and  the  bars,  and  the  chains,  of  all  other  nations,  will  remain  undisturbed. 
It  is,  indeed,  possible,  that  our  industry  and  commerce  would  accommodate 
themselves  to  this  unequal  and  unjust  state  of  things:  for,  such  is  the  flexi- 
bility of  our  nature,  that  it  bends  itself  to  all  circumstances.  The  wretched 
prisoner,  incarcerated  in  a  gaol,  after  a  long  time,  becomes  reconciled  to  his 
solitude,  and  regularly  notches  down  the  passing  days  of  his  confinement. 

Gentlemen  deceive  themselves.  It  is  not  free  trade  that  they  are  recora- 
metiding  to  our  acceptance.  It  is,  in  effect,  the  British  colonial  system  that 
we  are  invited  to  adopt;  and,  if  their  policy  prevail,  it  will  lead,  substan- 
tially, to  the  recolonization  of  these  States,  under  the  commercial  dominion 
of  Great  Britain.  And  whom  do  we  find  some  of  the  principal  supporters, 
out  of  Congress,  of  this  foreign  system  ?  Mr.  President,  there  are  some 
foreigners  who  always  remain  exotics,  and  never  become  naturalized  in  our 
country:  whilst,  happily,  there  are  many  others  who  readily  attach  them- 
selves to  our  principles  and  our  institutions.  The  honest,  patient,  and  indus- 
trious German,  readily  unites  with  our  people,  establishes  nimself  upon  some 
of  our  fat  land,  fills  his  capacious  barn,  and  enjoys,  in  tranquillity,  the  abun- 
dant fruits  which  his  diligence  gathers  around  him.  always  ready  to  fly  to  the 
standard  of  his  adopted  country,  or  of  its  laws,  when  called  by  the  duties  of 
patriotism.  The  gay,  the  versatile,  the  philosophic  Frenchman,  accommo- 
dating himself  cheerfully  to  all  the  vicissitudes  of  life,  incorporates  himself, 
without  difficult3r,  in  our  society.  But,  of  all  foreigners,  none  amalgamate 
themselves  so  quickly  with  our  people  as  the  natives  of  the  Emerald  Isle.  In 
some  of  the  visions  which  have  passed  through  my  imagination,  I  have  sup- 
posed that  Ireland  was,  originally,  part  and  parcel  of  this  continent,  and  that, 
ny  some  extraordinary  convulsion  of  nature,  it  was  torn  from  America,  and, 
drifting  across  the  ocean,  was  placed  in  the  unfortunate  vicinity  of  Great 
Britain.  The  same  openheartedness;  the  same  generous  hospitality;  the 
same  careless  and  uncalculating  indifference  about  human  life,  characterise 
the  inhabitants  of  both  countries.  Kentucky  has  been  sometimes  called  the 
Ireland  of  America.  And  I  have  no  doubt  tnat,  if  the  cuiTent  of  emigration 
were  reversed,  and  set  from  America  upon  the  shores  of  Europe,  instead  of 
bearing  from  Europe  to  America,  every  American  emigrant  to  Ireland  would 
there  find,  as  every  Irish  emigrant  here  finds,  a  hearty  welcome  and  a  happy 
home  ! 

But,  sir,  the  gentleman  to  whom  I  am  about  to  allude,  although  long  a  re- 
sident of  this  country,  has  no  feelings,  no  attachments,  no  sympathies,  no 
principles,  in  common  with  our  People.  Near  fifty  years  ago,  Pennsylvania 
took  him  to  her  bosom,  and  warmed,  and  cherished,  and  honored  him;  and 
how  does  he  manifest  his  gratitude?    By  aiming  a  vital  "blow  at  a  system  en- 


deared to  her  bv  a  thorough  conviction  that  it  is  indispensable  to  her  prosper 
filled,  at  home  and  abroad,  some  of  the  highest  offices  under  thi: 
ing  thirty  years,  and  he  is  still  at  heart  an  alien, 
thority  of  his  name  lias  been  invoked,  and  the  labors  of  his  pen,  in  the  form 


ity.    He  has 
Government,  durih 


this 
rhe  au- 


of  a  memorial  to  Congress,  have  been  engaged,  to  overthrow  the  American 
system  and  to  substitute  the  foreign.  Go  home  to  your  native  Europe,  and 
there  inculcate,  upon  her  sovereigns,  your  Utopian  doctrines  of  free  trade, 
and  when  you  have  prevailed  upon  them  to  unseal  their  ports,  and  freely  ad- 
mit the  produce  of  Pennsylvania,  and  other  States,  come  back,  and  we  shall 
be  prepared  to  become  converts,  and  to  adopt  your  faith. 

A  Mr.  Sarchet  also  makes  no  inconsiderable  figure  in  the  common  attack 
upon  our  system.  I  do  not  know  the  man,  but  I  understand  he  is  an  unna- 
turalized emigrant  from  the  island  of  Guernsey,  situated  in  the  channel  which 


1 

■ 


t 


t 


I'li 


12 

divides  France  anil  Enf^laml.  Tlie  principal  business  of  the  inhabitants  is  that 
oftlrivine  a  cuntrabanil  trade  with  the  opposite  shores,  and  Mr.  Sarchet,  edu- 
cated in  timt  school,  is,  I  have  been  told,  chieHv  engaged  in  employing  his 
wits  to  elude  the  operation  of  our  revenue  laws,  uv  introducing  articles  at  less 
rates  of  duty  than  they  are  justly  chargeable  with,  which  he  effects  by  vary- 
ing their  denominations,  or  slightly  changing  their  forms.  This  man,  at  a 
former  session  of  the  Senate,  caused  to  be  presented  a  memorial  signed  by 
8ome  150  pretended  workers  in  iron.  Of  these  a  gentleman  made  a  careful 
inquiry  and  examination,  and  he  ascertained  that  there  were  only  about  ten  of 
the  denomination  represented?  the  rest  were  tavern  keepers,  porters,  mer- 
chants' clerks,  hackney  coachmen,  &c  I  have  the  most  respectable  author- 
ity, in  black  and  white,  for  this  statement. 

[Here  Gen.  Haync  asked,  whoP  and  was  hk  a  manufacturer?  Mr.  Clay  re- 
plied. Col.  Murray,  of  New  York,  a  gentleman  of  the  highest  standing  for' 
honor,  probity,  and  veracity;  that  he  did  not  know  whether  h«  was  a  manu- 
facturer or  not,  but  the  gentleman  might  take  him  as  one.  *] 

Whether  Mr.  Sarchet  got  up  the  late  petition  presented  to  the  Senate,  from 
the  journeynien  tailors  ot  Philadelphia,  or  not,  I  do  not  know.  But  I  should 
not  be  surprised  if  it  were  a  movement  of  his,  and  if  we  should  find  that  he 
has  cabbaged  from  other  classes  of-  society  to  swell  out  the  number  of  signa- 
tures. 

To  the  facts  manufactured  by  Mr.  Sarchet,  and  the  theories  by  Mr.  Galla- 
tin, there  was  yet  wanting  one  circumstance  to  recommend  them  to  favorable 
cotisideration,  and  that  was  the  authority  of  some  high  name.  There  was  no 
difficulty  in  obtaining  one  from  a  British  repository.  The  honorable  gentle- 
man has  cited  a  speech  of  my  Lord  Goderich,  addressed  to  the  British  Par- 
liament, in  favor  of  free  trade,  and  full  of  deep  regret  that  old  England  coiUd 
not  possibly  ctmform  her  practice  of  rigorous  restnction  and  exclusion,  to  her 
liberal  doctrines  of  unfettered  commerce,  so  earnestly  recommended  to  foreign 
Powers.  Sir,  said  Mr.  C.  I  know  ray  Lord  Goderich  very  well,  although  my 
acquaintance  with  him  was  prior  to  his  being  summoned  to  the  British  House 
of  Peers.  We  both  signed  the  convention  between  the  United  States  and 
Great  Britain  of  1815.  He  is  an  honorable  man,  frank,  possessing  business, 
but  ordinary  talents,  about  the  stature  and  complexion  of  the  honorable  gen- 
tleman from  South  Carolina,  a  few  years  older  than  he,  and  every  drop  of 
blood  running  in  his  veins  being  pure  and  unadulterated  Anglo-Saxon  blood. 
If  he  were  to  live  to  the  age  ot  Methuselah,  he  could  not  make  a  speech  of 
such  abilitv  atid  eloquence  as  that  which  the  gentleman  from  South  Carolina 
recently  uclivered  to  the  Senate;  and  there  would  be  much  more  fitness  in 
my  Lord  Goderich  making  quotations  from  the  speech  of  the  honorable  gen- 
tleman, than  his  quoting,  as  authority,  the  theoretical  doctrines  of  my  Lord 
Goderich.  We  arc  too  much  in  the  habit  of  looking  abroad,  not  merely 
for  manufactured  articles,  but  for  the  sanction  of  high  names,  to  support  favor- 
ite theories.  1  have  seen,  and  closely  observed,  the  British  Parliament^  and, 
without  derojgating  from  its  justly  elevated  character,  I  have  no  hesitation  in 
saying,  that  in  all  the  attributes  of  order,  dignity,  patriotism,  and  eloquence^ 
the  American  Congress  would  not  suffer,  in  the  smallest  degree,  by  a  com- 
parison with  it. 

I  dislike  this  resort  to  authority,  and  cspepsAW  foreign  and  interested  au- 
thority, for  the  support  of  principles  of  public  policy.  I  would  greatly  prefer 
to  meet  gentlemen  upon  the,broad  ground  of  fact,  ot  experience,  and.ot  reason; 
but,  since  they  will  appeal  to  British  names  and  authority,  I  feel  myself  com- 
pelled to  imitate  their  bad  example.  Allow  me  to  quote  from  the  speech  of  a 
member  of  the  British  Parliament,  bearing  the  same  family  name  with  my 
Lord  Goderich,  but  whether  or  not  a  relation  of  his,  I  do  not  know.  The 
member  alluded  to  was  arguing  against  the  violation  of  the  treatv  of  Methuen 
— that  treaty,  not  less  fatal  to  tne  interests  of  Portugal  than  would  be  the  sys- 
tem of  gentlemen  to  the  best  interests  of  America— «nd  he  went  on  to  say: 

*  Mr.  Clay  tuhsequently  understood  that  Col.  Murray  was  a  merchant. 


1 


itants  ia  (hat 
aichet,  edu- 
nploying  his 
tides  at  less 
cts  by  vary- 
is  man,  at  a 
il  signed  by 
de  a  careful 
about  ten  of 
»orters,  mer- 
able  author- 

Ar.  Clay  re- 
standing  for' 
Aras  a  manu- 

Senate,  from 
3ut  I  siiould 
find  that  he 
ler  of  signa- 

Mr.  Galla- 
to  favorable 
here  was  no 
able  gentle- 
British  Par- 
igland  could 
ision,  to  her 
;d  to  foreign 
ilthoogh  my 
ntish  House 
States  and 
ng;  business, 
orable  gen- 
ery  drop  (»f 
axon  blood, 
a  speech  of 
th  Carolina 
fitness  in 
orable  gen- 
)f  my  Lord 
not  merely 
[jport  favor- 
imentf  and, 
lesitation  in 
eloquence, 
by  a  com- 

erested  au- 
iaily  prefer 
Lot  reason; 
jyself  com- 
speechofa 
with  my 
low.  The 
)f  Methuen 
be  the  sys- 
on  to  gay: 


IS 

*'  //  was  idle  for  us  to  endeavor  to  persuade  other  nations  to  join  with  us  in 
adopting  the  principles  qfwhat  was  called  *free  trade.''  Other  nations  knew, 
as  well  as  the  noble  Lord  opposite^  and  those  who  acted  with  liim,  what  we 
meant  by  ''free  trade''  was  nothi  ^  more  nor  less  than^  by  means  of  the  great 
advantages  we  enjoyed,  to  g't  monopoly  of  all  their  markets  for  our  manu- 
factures, and  to  prevent  them  .  e  and  all,  from  ever  becoming  manufactur- 
ing nations.  When  the  systfcjii  of  reciprocity  and  free  trade  nad  been  pro- 
posed to  a  French  ambassador,  his  remark  was,  that  the  plan  was  excellent  in 
theory,  but,  to  make  it  fair  in  practice,  it  would  be  necessary  to  defer  the  at- 
tempt to  put  it  in  execution  for  half  a  century,  until  France  should  be  on  the 
same  footing  with  Great  Britain,  in  marine,  m  manufactures,  in  capital,  and 
the  many  other  peculiar  advantages  which  it  now  enjoyed.  The  poli'-.y  that 
France  acted  on,  was  that  of  encouraging  its  native  manufactures,  and  tt  was 
a  wise  policy;  because,  if  it  were  freely  to  admit  our  manufactures,  it  would 
speedily  be  reduced  to  the  rank  of  an  agricultural  nation;  and  thertfore  a 
poor  nation,  as  all  must  be  that  depend  exclusively  upon  [agriculture.  Ame- 
rica acted  too  upon  the  same  principle  with  France.  America  legislated  for 
futurity — legislated  for  an  increasing  population.  America,  too,  was  prosper- 
ing under  this  system.  In  twentv  years,  America  would  be  independent  of 
England  for  manufactures  altogether.  •  •  #  *  *  jjut  since 
the  peace.  France.  Germany,  America,  and  all  the  other  countries  of  the 
world,  had  proceeded  upon  the  principle  of  encouraging  and  protecting  native 
manuractures." 

But  I  have  said  that  the  system  nominally  called  "  free  trade,"  so  earnest- 
ly and  eloquently  recommended  to  our  adoption,  is  a  mere  revival  of  the  Bri- 
tish colonial  system,  forced  upon  us  by  Great  Britain  during  the  existence  ot 
our  colonial  vassalage.  The  whole  system  is  fully  explained  and  illustrated 
in  a  work  published  as  far  back  as  the  year  1750,  entitled  ''  The  trade,,  and 
navigation  of  Great  Britain  considered,  by  Joshua  Gee,"  with  extracts  from 
whicn  1  have  been  furnished  by  the  diligent  researches  of  a  friend.  It  will 
be  seen  from  these,  that  the  South  Caronna  policy  now,  is  identical  with  the 
long  cherished  policy  of  Great  Britain,  which  remains  the  same  as  it  was  when 
the  thirteen  colonies  were  part  of  the  British  empire.  In  that  work  the  author 
contends — 

"1.  That  manufactures,  in  the  American  colonies,  should  be  discourag'ed  or  pro- 
hibited. 

"  Great  Britain,  with  its  dependencies,  is  doubtless  as  well  able  to  subsist  within 
itself  as  any  nation  in  Europe:  We  have  an  enterprising  People,  fit  for  all  the  arts  of 
peace  and  war:  We  have  provisions  in  abundance,  and  those  of  the  best  sort,  and  are 
able  to  raise  sufficient  for  double  the  number  of  inhabitants:  We  have  the  very  best 
materials  for  clothing,  and  want  nothing  either  for  use  or  even  for  luxury,  but  what 
we  have  at  hbme  or  might  have  from  our  colonies:  So  that  we  might  make  such  an 
intercourse  of  trade  among  oimielves,  or  between  us  and  them,  as  would  maintain  a 
vast  navigation.  But  we  ought  always  to  keep  a  watchful  eye  over  our  colonies,  to  re- 
strain them  from  setting  up  any  of  the  manufactures  which  are  carried  on  in  Britain; 
and  any  such  attempts  should  be  crushed  in  the  beginning:  for,  if  they  are  suffered  to 
grow  up  to  maturity,  it  will  be  difficult  to  suppress  them." — ^Pages  177,  8,  9. 

"  Our  colonies  are  much  in  the  same  state  Ireland  was  in,  when  they  began  the  Wool- 
len manufactory,  and,  as  their  numbers  increase,  will  fall  upon  manufactures  for  cloth- 
ing themselves,  if  due  care  be  not  taken  to  find  employment  for  them  in  raising  sifbh 
productions  as  may  enable  them  to  furnish  themselves  with  all  their  necessaries  from 
us." 

Then  it  was  the  object  of  this  British  economist  to  adapt  the  means  or 
wealth  of  the  colonists  to  the  supply  required  by  their  necessities,  and  to 
make  the  mother  country  the  only  source  of  that  supply.  Now  it  seems  the 
policy  is  only  so  far  to  be  reversed,  that  we  must  continue  to  import  necessa- 
ries (rom  Great  Britain,  in  order  to  enable  her  to  purchase  raw  cotton  from  us. 

"  I  should,  therefore,  think  it  worthy  the  care  of  the  Government  to  ende:ivor,  by 
all  possible  means,  to  encourage  them  in  raising  of  silk,  hemp,  flax,  iron,  [dj'only  pig, 
to  be  hammered  in  England]  pot  ash,  &.?.  by  giving  them  competent  bounties  in  the 
btjfinaing,  and  sending  over  judicious  and  skilful  persons,  at  the  public  charge,  to 


/I 


:S! 


14      ^ 

assist  and  instruct  them  in  the  most  proper  methods  of  management,  which,  in  my 
apprehension,  would  lay  a  foundation  for  establishing  the  most  profitable  trade  of  any 
we  have.  And  considering  the  commanding  situation  of  our  colonies  along  the  sea 
coast;  the  great  convenience  of  navigable  rivers  in  all  of  them;  the  cheapness  of  land, 
and  the  easiness  of  raising  provisions;  g^eat  numbers  of  People  would  transport  them- 
selves thither  to  settle  upon  such  improvements.  Now,  as  People  have  been  filled 
with  fears  that  the  colonies,  if  encouraged  to  raise  rough  materials,  would  set  up  for 
themselves,  a  little  regulation  would  remove  all  those  jealousies  out  of  the  way.  They 
have  never  thrown  or  wove  any  silk  as  yet  that  we  have  heard  of:  Therefore,  if  a  law 
was  made  to  prohibit  the  use  of  every  throwster's  mill,  or  doubling  or  horsling  silk 
witli  any  machine  whatever,  they  would  then  send  it  us  raw:  And,  as  they  will  have 
the  providing  rough  materials  to  themselves,  so  shall  we  have  the  manufacturing  of 
them.  If  encouragement  be  given  for  rising  hemp,  flax,  &c.  doubtless  they  will 
soon  begin  to  manufacture,  if  not  prevented:  Therefore,  to  stop  the  progress  of  any 
such  manufacture,  it  is  proposed  that  no  weaver  there  shall  have  liberty  to  set  up  any 
looms  without  first  registering  at  an  office  kept  for  tliat  purpose,  and  the  name  and 
place  of  abode  of  any  journeyman  that  shall  work  witli  him.  But  if  any  particular  in- 
habitant shall  be  inclined  to  have  any  linen  or  woollen  made  of  their  own  spinning, 
they  should  not  be  abridged  of  the  same  liberty  that  they  now  make  use  of,  viz.  to 
carry  to  a  weaver  (who  shall  be  licemed  by  the  Crovemor)  and  have  it  wrought  up  for 
the  use  of  the  family,  but  not  to  be  sold  to  any  person  in  a  private  manner,  nor  exposed 
to  any  market  or  fair,  upon  pain  of  forfeiture. 

'^  And,  inasmuch  as  they  have  been  supplied  with  all  their  iron  manufactures  from 
hence,  except  what  is  used  in  the  building  of  sliips  and  other  country  work,  one  half 
of  our  exports  being  suposed  to  be  in  NAILS — a  manufacture  which  they  allow  has 
never  hitherto  been  carried  on  among  them — ^it  is  proposed  they  shall, /or  time  to  come, 
never  erect  the  manufacture  of  any  under  the  size  of  a  two  shilling  nul,  horse  nails 
excepted;  that  all  slitting  mills  and  engines,  for  drawing  wire,  or  weaving  stockings, 
be  put  down;  and  that  every  smith  who  keeps  a  common  forge  or  shop,  shall  re^ster 
his  name  and  place  of  abode,  and  the  name  of  every  servant  which  he  shall  employ, 
which  licence  shall  be  renewed  once  every  year,  and  pay  for  the  liberty  of  working 
at  such  trade.  That  all  negroes  shall  be  prohibited  from  weaving  either  linen  or  woollen, 
or  spinning  or  combing  of  wool,  or  working  at  any  manufacture  of  iron,  further  than 
making  it  int  pig  or  bar  iron.  That  they  also  be  prohibited  from  manufacturing  liats, 
stockings,  or  leather,  of  any  kind.  This  limitation  will  not  abridge  the  planters  of  any 
privilege  they  now^  enjoy.  On  the  contrary,  it  wUl  turn  their  industry  to  promoting 
and  raising  those  rough  materials." 

The  author  then  proposes  that  the  Board  of  Trade  and  Plantations  should  be 
furnished  with  statistical  accounts  of  the  various  permitted  manufactures,  to 
enable  them  to  encourage  or  depress  the  industry  of  the  colonists,  and  prevent 
the  danger  of  interference  with  British  industry. 

"  It  is  hoped  that  this  method  would  allay  the  heat  that  some  people  have  shown,  for 
destroying  the  iron  works  on  the  plantations,  and  pulling  down  all  their  forges — ^taking 
away,  in  a  violent  manner,  their  estates  and  properties — preventing  the  husbandmen 
from  getting  their  ploughshares,  carts,  and  other  utensils,  mended;  destroying  the  ma- 
nufacture of  ship  building,  by  depriving  them  of  the  liberty  of  making  bolts,  spikes, 
and  other  things  proper  for  carrying  on  tliat  work,  by  which  article  returns  are  made 
for  purchasing  our  woollen  manufactures.— Pages  87,  88,  89." 

Such  is  the  picture  of  colonists  dependent  upon  the  mother  country  for 
th«ir  necessarv  supplies,  drawn  by  a  writer  who  was  not  among  the  number 
of  those  who  desired  to  debar  them  the  means  of  building  a  vessel,  erecting  a 
forge,  or  mending  a  ploughshare,  but  who  was  willing  to  promote  their  growth 
and  properity,  as  far  as  was  consistent  with  the  paramount  interests  of  the  - 
manufactuiing  or  parent  State. 

"  2.  The  advantages  to  Great  Britain  from  keeping  tlie  colonists  dependent  on  her 
for  their  essential  supplies. 

"  if  we  examine  into  the  circumstances  of  the  inhabitants  of  our  plantations  and  our 
own,  it  will  appear  that  not  one-fourth  part  of  their  product  redounds  to  their  own  pro- 
fit: for,  out  of  all  that  comes  here,  they  only  carry  back  clothing  and  other  accommo- 
dations for  their  families;  all  of  which  is  of  the  merchandise  and  manufacture  of  this 
kingdom." 


vhich,  in  my 
trade  of  any 
long  the  lea 
ne^s  of  land, 
nsport  them- 
'.  been  filled 
Id  set  up  for 
;  way.  They 
"ore,  if  a  law 
horsling  silk 
;y  will  have 
ifacturing  of 
ess  they  will 
igress  of  any 
9  set  up  any 
[le  name  and 
mrticular  in- 
fn  spinning', 
;  of,  viz.  to 
lught  up  for 
nor  exposed 

ictures  from 
rk,  one  half 
ey  allow  has 
Hme  to  come, 
horse  nails 
^  stockings, 
[lall  repster 
lall  employ, 
of  working 
or  woollen, 
further  than 
sturing  liats, 
nters  of  any 
>  promoting 

s  should  be 
ictures,  to 
nd  prevent 

shown,  for 
fes — taking 
usbandmen 
ing  the  ma- 
Its,  spikes, 
IS  are  made 

uuntry  for 
le  number 
irecting  a 
eir  growth 
!sts  of  the  • 

ent  on  her 

ms  and  our 
ir  own  pro- 
accommo- 
ure  of  this 


''k 


15 

After  fthowing  hox^  this  system  tends  to  concentrate  all  the  suiplus  o(  ac- 
quisition over  absoln^'  .ixpenditHre,  in  England,  he  says: 

'*  All  these  advaacages  we  receive  by  the  plantations,  besides  the  mortgages  on  tlie 
planters'  estates,  and  the  high  interest  they  pay  us,  which  is  very  considerable;  and 
tlierefore  very  g^eat  care  ought  to  be  taken,  in  regulating  all  aifairs  of  the  colonists, 
that  the  planters  be  not  put  under  too  many  difficulties,  but  encouraged  to  go  on  cheer- 
fuUy. 

"  New  England,  and  the  northern  colonies,  have  not  commodities  and  products 
enough  to  send  us  in  return  for  purchasing  tlieir  necessary  clothing,  but  are  under 
very  great  diiRculties;  and  therefore,  any  ordinary  sort  sell  with  them.  And  when 
they  have  grown  out  of  fashion  with  us,  they  are  new  fashioned  enough  there." 

Sir,  I  cannot  go  on  with  this  disgusting  detail.*  Their  refuse  goods;  their 
old  shop-keepers;  their  cast  off  clothes,  good  enough  for  us!  Was  there  ever 
a  scheme  more  artfully  devised  by  which  the  energies  and  faculties  of  one 
People  should  be  kept  down  and  rendered  subservient  to  the  pride,  and  the 
pomp,  and  the  power,  of  another!  The  system  then  proposed  diners  only  from 
that  which  is  now  recommended,  in  one  particular^  that  was  intended  to  be 
enforced  by  power,  this  would  not  be  less  effectually  executed  by  the  force  of 
circumstances.  A  gentleman  in  Boston,  (Mr.  Lee)  the  agent  of  the  Free 
Trade  Convention,  Trom  whose  exhaustless  mint  there  is  a  constant  issue  of 
reports,  seems  to  envy  the  blessed  condition  of  dependent  Canada,  wiien  com- 
pared to  the  oppressed  state  of  this  Union;  and  it  is  a  fair  inference  from  the 
view  which  he  presents,  that  he  would  have  us  to  hasten  back  to  the  golden 
days  of  that  colonial  bondage,  which  is  so  well  depicted  in  the  work  from 
which  I  have  been  quoting.  Mr.  Lee  exhibits  two  tabular  statements,  in  one 
of  which  he  presents  the  high  duties  which  lie  represents  to  be  paid  in  the 
parts  of  the  United  States,  and,  in  the  other,  those  which  are  paid  in  Canada, 
generally  about  two  per  cent,  ad  valorem.  But  did  it  not  occur  to  him  that 
the  duties  levied  in  Canada  are  paid  chiefly  on  British  manufactures,  or  on 
articles  passing  from  one  to  another  part  of  i  common  empire;  and  that,  to 
present  a  parallel  case,  in  the  United  States,  he  ought  to  have  shown  that 
importations  made  into  one  State  from  another,  which  are  now  free,  are  subject 
to  tiie  same  or  higher  duties  than  are  paid  in  Canada? 

1  will  now,  Mr.  President,  proceed  to  a  more  particular  consideration  of 
the  arguments  urged  against  the  protective  system,  and  an  inquiry  into  its 
practical  operation,  especially  on  the  cotton  growing  country.  And,  as  I  wish 
to  state  and  meet  the  argument  fairly,  I  invite  correction  of  my  statement  of 
it,  if  necessary.  It  is  alleged  that  the  system  operates  prejudicially  to  the 
otton  planter,  by  diminishing  the  foreign  demand  for  his  staple;  that  we  can- 
to sell  to  Great  Britain,  unless  we  buy  from  her;  that  the  import  duty  is 
equivalent  to  an  export  duty,  and  falls  upon  the  cotton  grower;  that  South 
Carolina  pays  a  disproportionate  quota  ot  the  public  revenue;  that  an  aban- 
donment of  the  protective  policy  would  lead  to  an  augmentation  of  our  ex- 
ports of  an  amount  not  less  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  millions  of  dollars; 
and  finally,  that  the  South  cannot  partake  of  the  advantages  of  manufacturing, 
if  there  be  any.  Let  us  examine  these  various  propositions,  in  detail.  1.  That 
the  foreign  demand  for  cotton  is  diminished;  and  that  we  cannot  sell  to  Great 
Britain  unless  we  buy  from  her.  The  demand  of  both  our  great  foreign  cus- 
tomers is  constantly  and  annually  increasing.  It  is  true,  that  the  ratio  of  the 
increase  may  not  be  equal  to  that  of  production;  but  this  is  owing  to  the  fact 
that  the  power  of  producing  the  raw  material  is  much  greater,  and  is  there- 
fore constantly  in  advance  of  the  power  of  consumption.  A  single  tact  will' 
illustrate.  Tne  average  produce  of  laborers  engaged  in  the  cultivation  of  cot- 
ton may  be  estimated  at  five  bales,  or  fifteen  hundred  weight  to  the  hand. 
Supposing  the  annual  average  consumption  of  each  individual  who  uses  cotton 
cloth  to  be  five  pounds,  one  hand  can  produce  enough  of  the  raw  material  to 
clothe  three  hundred. 

The  argument  comprehends  two  errors,  one  of  fact  and  the  other  of  princi- 
ple.   It  assumes  that  we  do  not  in  fact  purchase  of  Great  Britain.    What  is 

*S«e  Appendix,  D,  fur  the  residut  of  the  quotati  on  which  as  intended  to  be  made. 


'I 
.'I 


16 

the  time  state  of  the  case?  There  are  certain,  but  verjr  few  articles  which  it  is 
thought  sound  policy  requires  that  we  should  manufacture  at  home,  and  on 
these  the  tariff  operates.  But, with  respect  to  all  the  rest,  and  much  the  larger 
number  of  articles  of  taste,  fashion,  or  utility,  they  are  subject  to  no  other 
than  revenue  duties  and  are  freely  introduced.  I  have  before  me  from  the 
treasury  a  statement  of  our  imports  from  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  in- 
cluding ten  vears,  preceding  the  lust,  and  threo  quarters  of  the  last  year,  from 
which  it  will  appear  that,  although  there  arc  some  fluctuations  inlthe  amount  of 
the  different  years,  the  largest  amount  imported  in  anyone  year  has  been 
since  the  tariiVof  1824,  and  that  the  last  year's  importation,  when  the  returns 
of  the  fourth  quarter  shall  be  received,  will  probably  be  the  greatest  in  the 
whole  term  ot  eleven  years. 

Now,  if  it  be  admitted  that  there  is  a  less  amount  of  the  protected  articles 
imported  from  Great  Britain,  she  may  be,  and  probably  is,  compensated  for 
the  deficiency,  by  the  increased  consumptiim  in  America  of  the  articles  of  her 
industry  not  falling  within  the  scope  of  the  policv  of  our  protection.  The 
establisnment  of  manufactures  amonj;  us  excites  tne  creation  of  wealth,  and 
this  gives  new  powers  of  consumption,  which  are  gratified  by  the  purchase  of 
foreign  objects.  A  poor  nation  can  never  be  a  great  consuming  nation.  Its 
poverty  will  limit  its  consumption  to  bare  subsistence. 

The  erroneous  principle  which  the  argument  includes,  is,  that  it  devolves 
on  us  the  duty  of  taking  care  that  Great  Britain  shall  be  enabled  to  purchase 
from  us  without  exacting  from  Great  Britain  the  corresponding  duty.  If  it  be 
true,  on  one  side,  that  nations  are  bound  to  shape  their  policy  m  reference  to 
the  ability  of  foreign  Powers,  it  must  be  true  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic. 
And  this  reciprocal  obligation  ought  to  be  emphatically  regarded  towards  the 
nation  supplying  the  raw  material,  by  the  manufacturing  nation,  because  the 
industry  of  the  latter  gives  four  or  live  values  to  what  had  been  produced  by 
the  industry  of  the  former. 

But,  does  Great  Britain  practise  towards  us  upon  the  principles  which  we  are 
now  required  to  observe  in  regard  to  her?  The  exports  to  the  United  kingdom, 
as  appears  from  the  same  treasury  statement*  just  adverted  to,  during  eleven 
years,  from  1821  to  1831,  and  exclusive  of  the  fourth  quarter  of  the  last  vear, 
fall  short  of  the  amount  of  imports  by  upwards  of  forty-six  millions  of  dollars, 
and  the  totaj  amount,  when  tne  returns  of  that  quarter  are  received,  will  ex- 
ceed fifty  millions  of  dollars!  It  is  surprising  how  we  have  been  able  to  sUs 
tain,  for  so  long  a  time,  a  trade  so  very  unequal.  We  must  have  been  abso- 
lutely ruined  by  it,  if  the  unfavorable  balance  had  not  been  neutralized  by 
more  profitable  commerce  with  other  parts  of  the  world.  Of  all  nations 
Great  Britain  has  the  least  cause  to  complain  of  the  trade  between  the  two 
countries.  Our  imports  from  that  single  Power  are  nearly  one  third  of  the 
entire  amount  of  our  importations  from  all  foreign  countries  together.  Great 
Britain  constantly  acts  on  the  maxim  of  bQying  only  what  she  wants  and  can- 
not produce,  and  selling  to  foreign  nations  the  utmost  amount  she  can.  In 
conformity  with  this  maxim  she  excludes  articles  of  prime  necessity  produced 
by  us— equally  if  not  more  necessary  than  any  of  her  industry  which  we  tax, 
although  the  admission  of  those  articles  would  increase  our  ability  to  purchase 
from  her,  according  to  the  ai;gument  of  gentlemen. 

If  we  purchased  still  less  from  Great  Britain  than  we  do,  and  our  conditions 
were  reversed,  so  that  the  value  of  her  imports  from  this  country  exceeded 
that  of  her  exports  to  it.  she  would  only  then  be  compelled  to  do  what  we 
have  so  long  done,  anu  what  South  Carolina  does,  in  her  trade  with  Ken- 
tucky, make  up  for  the  unfavorable  balance  by  trade  with  other  places  and 
countries.  How  does  she  now  dispose  of  the  one  hundred  and  sixty  millions 
of  dollars'  worth  of  cotton  fabrics,  which  she  annually  sells?  Of  that  amount 
the  United  States  do  not  purchase  five  per  cent.  Wnut  becomes  of  the  other 
ninety-five  per  cent.?  Is  it  not  sold  toother  Powers,  and  would  not  their 
markets  remain  if  ours  were  totally  shut?  Would  she  not  continue,  as  she 
now  finds  it  her  interest,  to  pui'chase  the  raw  material  from  us,  to  supply 
(liose  markets?    Would  she  be  guilty  of  the  folly  of  depriving  herself  of  mar- 


A' 


^ 


'Het  uppundix,  U. 


which  it  is 
ne,  and  on 
I  the  larger 
)  no  other 
e  from  the 
reland,  in- 
year,  from 
amount  of 
has  been 
he  returns 
test  in  the 

ed  articles 
insated  for 
cles  of  her 
ion.  The 
)'ealth,and 
•ur chase  of 
ation.    Its 

it  devolves 

0  purchase 
y.  If  it  be 
'ference  to 
B  Atlantic, 
awards  the 
ecause  the 
oduced  by 

lich  we  are 

1  iiingdom, 
ring  eleven 
i  last  v^r, 
of  dollars, 
d,  will  ex- 
ile to  sUs 
)een  abso- 
alized  by 

nations 
n  the  two 
ird  of  the 
Great 
and  can- 
can.   In 
produced 
h  we  tax, 
purchase 

onditions 
exceeded 
what  we 
ith  Ken- 
laces  and 
'  millions 
t  amount 
the  other 
not  their 
e,  as  she 
o  supply 
f  of  mar- 


11 


T 


17 

kets  to  the  amount  of  upwards  of  $150,000,000,  because  we  refused  her  a 
market  for  some  eight  or  ten  millions? 

But  if  there  were  a  diminution  of  the  British  demand  for  cotton  equal  to 
the  loss  of  a  market  for  the  few  British  fabrics  which  are  within  the  scope  of 
our  protective  policy,  the  question  would  still  remain,  whether  the  cotton 
planter  is  not  amply  indemnitied  by  the  creation  of  additional  demand  else- 
where? With  respect  to  the  cotton -grower  it  is  the  totality  of  the  demand, 
and  not  its  distribution^  which  affects  his  interests.  If  any  system  of  policy 
will  augment  the  aggregate  of  the  demand,  that  system  is  favorable  to  his  in- 
terests, although  its  tendency  may  be  to  vary  the  theatre  of  the  demand.  It 
could  not,  f«r  example,  be  injurious  to  him,  if,  instead  of  Great  Britain  con- 
tinuing to  leceive  the  entire  quantity  of  cotton  which  she  now  does,  two  or 
three  hundred  thousand  bales  of  it  were  taken  to  the  other  side  of  the  chan- 
nel, and  increased,  to  that  extent,  the  French  demand.  It  would  be  better 
for  him,  because  it  is  always  better  to  have  several  markets  than  one.  Now, 
if,  instead  of  a  transfer  to  ine  opposite  side  of  the  channel,  of  those  two  or  three 
hundred  thousand  bales,  they  are  transported  to  the  Northern  States,  can  that 
be  injurious  to  the  cotton  grower?  Is  it  not  better  for  him?  Is  it  not  better  to 
have  a  market  at  home,  unaffected  by  war  or  other  foreign  causes,  for  that 
amount  of  his  staple? 

If  the  establishment  of  American  manufactures,  therefore,  had  the  sole 
effect  of  creating  a  new,  and  an  American,  demand  for  cotton,  exactly  to  the 
same  extent  in  which  it  lessened  the  British  demand,  there  would  be  no  just 
cause  of  complaint  against  the  tariff'.  The  gain  in  one  place  would  precisely 
equal  the  loss  in  the  other.  But  the  true  state  of  the  matter  is  much  more 
favorable  to  the  cotton  grower.  It  is  calculated  that  the  cotton  manufactories 
of  the  United  States  absorb  at  least  '200,000  iiales  of  cotton  annually.  I  be- 
lieve it  to  be  more.  The  two  ports  of  Boston  and  Providence  alone,  received, 
during  the  last  year,  near  1 10,000  bales.  The  amount  is  annually  increasing. 
The  raw  material  of  that  two  hundred  thousand  bales  is  worth  six  millions, 
and  there  is  an  additional  value  conferred  by  the  manufactureV,  of  eighteen 
millions;  it  being  generally  calculated  that,  in  such  cotton  fabrics  as  we  are 
in  the  habit  of  makmg,  the  manufacture  constitutes  three  fourths  of  the  value 
of  the  article.  If,  therefore,  these  twenty-four  millions'  worth  of  cotton  fa- 
brics were  not  made  in  the  United  States,,  but  were  manufactured  in  Great 
BritaiUj  in  order  to  obtain  them,  we  should  have  to  add  to  the  already  enor- 
mous dispnmortion  between  the  amount  of  our  imports  and  exports,  in  the 
trade  with  Great  Britain,  the  further  sum  of  twenty  four  millions,  or,  deduct- 
ing the  price  of  the  raw  material,  eighteen  millions!  And  will  gentlemen  tell 
me  how  it  would  be  possible  for  this  country  to  sustain  such  a  ruinous  trade? 
From  all  that  portion  of  the  United  States  lying  north  and  east  of  James 
river,  and  west  of  the  mountains,  Great  Britain  receives  comparatively 
nothing.  How  would  it  be  possible  for  th"?  inhabitants  of  that  largest  portion 
of  our  territory,  to  supply  themselves  with  cotton  fabrics,if  they  were  brought 
from  Engjand  exclusively?  They  could  not  do  it.  But  for  the  existence  of 
the  American  manufacture,  they  would  be  compelled  greatly  to  curtail  their 
supplies,  if  not  absolutely  to  suffer  in  their  comforts.  By  its  existence  at 
home,  the  circle  of  tliose  exchanges  is  created  whieh  reciprocally  diffuses 
among  all,  who  are  e^nbraced  within  it,  the  productions  of  their  respective 
industry.  The  cotton  grower  sells  the  raw  material  to  the  manufacturer}  he 
buys  the  iron,  the  bread,  the  meal,  the  coal,  and  the  countless  number  of  ob- 
jects of  his  consumption,  from  his  fellow  citizens,  and  they,  in  turn,  purchase 
his  fabrics.  Putting  it  upon  the  ground  merely  of  supplying  those  with  ne- 
cessary articles,  who  could  not  otherwise  obtain  them,  ought  mere  to  be,  from 
any  quarter,  an  objection  to  the  only  system  by  which  that  object  can  be  ac- 
complished? But  can  there  be  any  doubt,  with  those  who  will  reflect,  that 
the  actual  amount  of  cotton  consumed  is  increased  by  the  home  manufacture? 
The  main  argument  of  gentlemen  is  founded  upon  the  idea  of  mutual  ability 
resulting  from  mutual  exchanges.  They  Would  furnish  an  ability  to  foreign 
nations  by  purchasing  from  them,  and  I  to  our  own  people,  by  exchanges  at 
home.  If  the  American  manufacture  were  discontinued,  and  that  of  England 
•  were  to  take  its  place,  how  would  she  sell  the  additional  quantity  of  twenty- 


,.t...>- 


J 


'9 


lA 

four  millions  of  cotton  goods,  which  we  now  make?  To  us?  That  has  b«ea 
shown  to  be  impracticable.  To  other  foreign  nations?  She  has  already  pushed 
her  supplies  to  them  to  the  utmost  extent.  The  ultimate  consequence  would, 
then,  be  to  diminish  the  total  consumption  of  cotton,  to  say  nothing  now  of 
the  reduction  of  price  that  would  take  place  bv  throwing  mto  the  ports  of 
Great  Britain  the  two  hundred  thousand  bales  which,  no  longer  being  manu- 
factured in  the  United  States,  would  go  thither. 

3.  That  the  import  duty  is  equivalent  to  an  export  duty,  and  falls  on  the 
producer  of  cotton. 

[Here  General  Hayne  explained,  and  said  that  he  never  contended  that  an 
import  duty  was  equivalent  to  an  export  duty,  under  all  circumstances}  he 
had  explained  in  his  speech  his  ideas  of  the  precise  operation  of  the  existing 
system.  To  which  Mr.  Clay  replied  that  he  had  seen  the  argument  so  stated 
in  some  of  the  ingenious  essays  from  the  Soutli  Carolina  press,  and  would 
therefore  answer  it.  ] 

The  tramers  of  our  constitution,  by  granting  the  power  to  Congress  to  lay 
imports,  and  prohibiting  that  of  laying  an  (export  duty,  manifested  that  thev 
did  not  regard  them  as  equivalent.  Nor  does  the  common  sense  of  mankinu. 
An  export  duty  fastens  upon,  and  incorporates  itself  with,  the  article  on  which 
it  is  laid.  The  article  cannot  escape  from  it — it  pursues  and  follows  it  wherever 
the  article  goes;  and  if,  in  the  foreign  market,  the  supply  is  above  or  just  equal 
to  the  demand,  the  amount  of  the  export  duty  will  be  a  clear  deduction  to  the 
exporter  from  the  price  of  the  article.  But  an  import  duly  on  a  foreign  article 
leaves  the  exporter  of  the  domestic  article  free,  1st,  to  import  specie?  2dly, 
goods  which  are  free  from  the  protecting  duty;  or,  3dly,  such  goods  as,  being 
chargeable  with  the  protecting  duty,  he  can  sell  at  home  and  throw  the  duty 
on  the  consumer. 

But,  it  is  confidently  argued  that  the  import  duty  falls  upon  the  grower  of 
cotton;  and  the  case  has  been  put  in  debate,  and  again  and  again,  in  conversa- 
tion, of  the  South  Carolina  planter,  who  exports  100  bales  of  cotton  to  Liver- 
pool, exchanges  them  for  100  bales  of  merchandise;  and,  when  he  brings  them 
home,  being^compelled  to  leave,  at  the  custom  house,  forty  bales  in  the  form 
of  duties.  The  argument  is  founded  on  the  assumption  that  a  duty  of  forty 
per  cent,  amounts  to  a  subtraction  of  forty  from  the  100  bales  of  merchandise. 
The  first  objection  to  it  is,  that  it  supposes  a  case  of  barter,  wliich  never  occurs. 
If  it  be  replied  that  it,  nevertheless,  occurs  in  the  operations  of  comtuerce, 
the  answer  would  be  that,  since  the  export  of  Carolina  cotton  is  chiefly  made 
by  New  York  or  foreign  merchants,  the  loss  stated,  if  it  really  accrued,  would 
fall  upon  them  and  not  upon  the  planter.  But,  to  test  the  correctness  of  the 
hypothetical  case,  let  us  suppose  that  the  duty,  instead  of  forty  per  cent,  should 
be  150.  which  is  asserted  to  oe  the  duty  in  some  cases.  Then,  the  planter  would 
not  only  lose  the  whole  hundred  bales  of  merchandise,  which  he  had  gotten  for 
his  hundred  bales  of  cotton,  but  he  would  have  to  purchase,  with  other  means, 
an  additional  fifty  bales,  in  order  to  enable  him  to  pay  the  duties  accruing  on 
the  proceeds  of  the  cotton.  Another  answer  is,  that,  if  the  producer  of  cotton 
in  America,  exchanged  against  English  fabrics,  pays  the  duty,  iho  producer  of 
those  fabrics  also  pays  it,  and  then  it  is  twice  paicf.  Such  must  be  the  conse- 
quence, unless  the  ptinciple  is  true  on  one  side  of  the  Atlantic,  and  false  on 
the  other.  The  true  answer  is,  that  the  exporter  of  an  article,  if  he  invents 
its  proceeds  in  a  foreign  market,  takes  care  to  make  the  investment  in  such 
merchandise  as,  when  brought  home,  he  can  sell  with  a  fair  profit;  and  conse- 
quently, the  consumer  would  pay  the  original  cost  and  charges  and  profit. 

3.  The  next  objection  to  the  American  System  is.  that  it  subjects  South 
Carolina  to  the  payment  of  an  undue  proportion  of  the  public  revenue.  The 
basis  of  this  objection  is  the  assumption,  shown  to  have  been  erroneous,  that 
the  producer  of  the  exports  from  this  country  pays  the  duty  on  its  imports, 
instead  of  the  consumer  of  those  imports.  The  amount  which  South  Carolina 
really  contributes  to  the  public  revenue,  no  more  than  that  of  any  other  State, 
can  be  precisely  ascertained.  It  depends  upon  her  consumption  of  articles 
paying  duties,  and  we  may  make  an  approximation  sufficient  for  all  practical 
purposes.  The  cotton  planters  of  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  with  which  I 
am  acquainted,  generally  expend  about  one  third  of  their  income  in  the  sup- 
port of  their  families  and  plantations.    On  this  subject,  I  hold  in  my  hand» 


i 


i 


ll 


has  been 
]y  pushed 
ce  woul(l« 
ng  now  of 
e  porta  of 


ng 


nianu- 


iills  on  the 

ed  that  an 
tances;  he 
\ie  existing 
it  so  stated 
ind  would 

'ress  to  lay 
1  that  thev 
I"  mankind, 
e  on  which 
it  wherever 
r  just  equal 
ction  to  the 
cign  article 
ecie;  Sdly, 
Is  as,  being 
;)w  the  duty 

le  grower  of 
,n  conversa- 
m  to  Liver- 
brings  them 
in  the  form 
uty  of  forty 
Merchandise, 
ever  occurs, 
comcuerce, 
neny  made 
ued,  would 
tness  of  the 
cent,  should 
anter  would 
id  gotten  for 
»ther  means, 
accruing  on 
cer  of  cotton 
producer  of 
e  the  consc- 
and  false  on 
he  invests 
entin  such 
and  oonae- 
profit. 
jjects  South 
renue.    The 
■oneous,  that 
its  imports, 
uth  Carolina 
other  State, 
a  of  articles 
all  practical 
with  which  I 
in  the  sup- 
in  my  hands 


i 


4 


19 

a  statement*  fron  a  friend  of  mine,  of  great  accuracy,  and  a  member  of  the 
Senate.  Accoi  <  <'.  to  this  statement,  in  a  cron  of  ten  thousand  dollars,  the 
expenses  may  ti  ictuate  between  two  thousand  eight  hundred  dollars  and 
three  thousand  two  hundred  dollars.  Of  this  sum,  about  one  fourth,  from 
seven  to  eielit  hundred  dollars,  may  be  laid  out  in  articles  paying  the  protect- 
ing duty;  tne  residue  is  disbursed  for  provisions,  mules,  horses,  oxen,  wages 
ot  overseer,  &c.  Estimating  the  exports  of  South  Carolina  at  eight  millions, 
one  third  is  two  millions  six  hundred  and  sixty-six  thousand  six  hundred  and 
sixty -six  dollars;  of  which,  one  fourth  will  be  six  hundred  and  sixty-six 
thousand  six  hundred  and  sixty-six  and  two-thirds  dollars.  Now,  supposing 
the  protecting  duty  to  be  fifty  per  cent.,  and  that  it  all  enters  into  the  price 
of  the  article,  the  amount  paid  by  South  Carolina  would  only  be  three  hundred 
and  thirty-three  thousand  three  hundred  and  thirty-three  and  one-third  dol- 
lars. But  the  total  revenue  of  the  United  States  may  be  stated  at  twenty-five 
millions,  of  which,  the  proportion  of  South  Carolma,  whatever  standard, 
whether  of  wealth  or  population,  be  adopted,  would  be  about  one  million.  Of 
course,  on  this  view  of  the  subject,  she  actually  pays  only  about  one  third  of 
her  fair  and  legitimate  share.  I  repeat,  that  I  have  no  personal  knowledge 
of  the  habits  ot  actual  expenditure  in  South  Carolina;  they  may  be  greater  than 
I  have  stated,  in  respect  to  other  parts  of  the  cotton  country  j  but  if  they  are, 
that  fact  does  not  arise  from  any  defect  in  the  system  of  public  policy. 

4.  An  abandonment  of  the  American  System,  it  is  urged,  would  lead  to  an 
addition  to  our  exports  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  millions  of  dollar^.  The 
amount  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  millions  of  cotton,  in  the  raw  state,  would 
produce  four  hundred  and  fifty  millions  in  the  manufactured  state,  supposing 
no  greater  measure  of  value  to  be  communicated,  in  the  manufactured  form, 
than  that  which  our  industry  imparts.  Now,  sir,  where  would  markets  be 
found  for  this  vast  addition  to  the  supply  ?  Not  in  the  United  States,  cer- 
tainly, nor  in  any  other  quarter  of  the  globe,  England  having  already  every 
where  pressed  her  cotton  manufactures  to  the  utmost  point  oirepletion.  We 
must  look  out  for  new  worlds;  seek  for  new  and  unknown  races  of  mortals 
to  consume  this  immense  increase  of  cotton  fabrics. 

[General  Hayne  said  that  he  did  not  mean  that  the  increase  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  millions  to  the  amount  of  our  exports,  would  be  of  cotton  alone,  but 
of  other  articles.  ] 

What  other  articles  P  Agricultural  produce — bread  stuffs,  beef" and  pork  ? 
&c.  ^terc  shall  we  find  markets  for  them?  frAiMcr  shall  we  gof  To 
what  country,  whose  ports  are  not  hermetically  sealed  against  their  admission  ? 
Break  down  tne  home  market,  and  vou  are  without  resource.  Destroy  lall 
other  interests  in  the  country,  for  tne  imaginary  purpose  of  advancing  the 
cotton  planting  interest,  and  you  inflict  a  p€«itive  injury,  without  the  smariest 
practical  benefit  to  the  cotton  planter.  Could  Charleston,  or  the  whole  South, 
when  all  other  markets  are  prostrated,  or  shut  against  the  reception  of  the 
surplus  of  our  farmers,  receive  that  surplus  ?  Would  they  buy  more  than 
they  might  want  for  their  own  consumption  ?  Cbuld  they  find  markets  which 
other  parts  of  the  Union  could  not  ?  Would  gentlemen  force  the  freemen  of 
all,  North  of  James  river.  East  and  West,  like  the  miserable  slave,  on  the 
Sabbath  day,  to  repair  to  Charleston,  with  a  turkey  undei*  his  arm,  or  a  pack 
upon  his  back,  and  beg  the  clerk  of  some  English  or  Scotch  merchant,  living 
in  his  gorgeous  palace,  or  rolling  in  his  splendid  coach  in  the  streets,  to  ex- 
change his  "  /mcA"  for  a  bit  of  flannel  to  cover  his  naked  wife  and  children ! 
No !  I  am  sure  that  I  do  no  more  than  justice  to  their  hearts,  when  I  believe 
that  they  would  reject,  what  I  believe  to  be,  the  inevitable  effects  of  their  policy. 

5.  But,  it  is  contended,  in  the  last  place,  that  the  South  cannot,  from  phy- 
sical, and  other  causes,  engage  in  the  manufacturing  arts.  I  deny  the  pre- 
mises, and  I  deny  the  conclusion.  I  deny  the  fact  of  inability,  and,  if  it 
existed,  I  deny  the  conclusion  that  we  must,  therefore,  break  down  our  ma- 
nufactures, and  nourish  those  of  foreign  countries.  The  South  possesses,  in 
an  extraordinary  degree,  two  of  the  most  important  elements  of  manufacturing 
industry— water  power  and  lab;>r.  The  former  gives  to  our  whole  countiT'  a 
most  decided  advantage  over  Great  Britain.  But  a  single  experiment,  stated 
*Sct  Appendix,  F,  for  th«  statement  referred  to. 


StrrrTTTTT' 


.1      ♦ 


11 


20 

by  the  gentleman  Trnm  8outl)  Carolina,  in  wlilch  a  faithlefls  slave  put  the  torrfi 
to  a  manufacturing  establishment,  has  discouraged  vimilar  entcrpriHCH.  We 
have,  in  Kentucky,  the  same  description  oC  population,  and  we  employ  them, 
and  almost  exolunivcly  employ  them,  in  many  of  our  hemp  manufactories. 
A  neighbor  of  mine,  one  of  our  most  opulent  and  respectable  citi/ens,  has 
luid  one,  two,  if  not  three,  manufactories  burnt  by  incendiaries;  but  he  per- 
severed,  and  his  perseverance  has  been  rewarded  with  wealth.  We  found 
that  it  was  less  expensive  to  keep  night  watches,  than  to  pay  premiums  for 
insurance,  and  we  employed  them. 

liet  it  be  supiMtsed,  however,  that  the  South  cannot  manufacture;  must 
th(»8e  parts  of  tne  Union  which  can,  be  therefore  prevented  f  Must  wc  uup- 
port  those  of  foreign  countries  ?  I  am  sure  that  injustice  would  be  done  to 
the  generous  and  patriotic  nature  of  South  Carolina,  if  it  were  believed  that 
she  envied  or  repined  at  the  success  of  other  portions  of  the  Uni(m  in  branches 
of  industry  to  which  she  might  happen  not  to  be  adapted.  Throughout  her 
whole  career  she  has  been  liberal,  national,  high  minded. 

The  friends  of  the  American  System  have  been  reminded,  by  the  honorable 
gentleman  from  Maryland,  (General  Smith)  that  they  are  the  maiority,  and 
he  has  admonished  them  to  exercise  their  power  in  moderation.  The  mqjnrit)^ 
ought  never  to  trample  upon  the  feelings,  or  violate  the  just  rights  of  the  mi- 
nority. They  ought  never  to  triumph  over  the  fallen,  nor  to  make  any  but  a 
temperate  and  equitable  use  of  their  power.  But  these  counsels  come  with  an 
ill  §race  from  the  gentleman  from  Maryland.  He,  too,  is  a  member  of  a  ma- 
jonty — a  political  majoritv.  And  how  has  the  administration  of  (hat  nugority 
exercised  their  power  in  this  country  ?  Recall  to  your  recollection  the  fourtn 
of  March,  1829,  when  the  lank,  lean,  famished  forms,  from  fen  and  forest, 
and  the  four  quarters  of  the  Union,  gathered  together  in  the  halls  of  patron- 
age; or  stealing,  by  evening's  twilight,  into  the  apartments  of  the  President'^ 
mansion,  cried  out,  with  ghastly  faces,  and  in  sepulchral  tones:  Give  uf< 
bread  !  Give  us  treasury  pap !  Give  us  our  reward !  England's  bard  was 
mistaken;  ghosts  will  sometimes  come,  called  or  uncalled.  Go  to  the  fami- 
lies who  were  driven  from  the  employments  on  which  they  were  dependent 
for  subsistence,  in  consequence  of  their  exercise  of  the  dearest  right  of  free- 
men. Go  to  mothers,  whilst  hugging  to  their  bosoms  their  starving  children. 
Go  to  fathers,  who,  after  being  disqualified,  by  long  public  service,  for  any 
other  business,  were  stripped  of  their  humble  places,  and  then  sought,  by  the 
minions  of  authority,  to  be  stript  of  all  that  was  left  them — their  good  names — 
and  ask,  what  mercy  was  shown  to  them !  As  for  myself,  born  in  the  midst 
of  the  Revolution,  tne  first  air  that  I  ever  breathed  on  my  native  soil  of  Vir- 
ginia, having  been  that  of  liberty  and  independence,  I  never  expected  justice, 
nor  desired  mercy  at  their  hands;  and  scorn  the  wrath,  and  defy  the  oppres- 
sion of  power ! 

I  regret,  Mr.  President,  that  one  topic  has,  I  think,  unnecessarily  been  in- 
troduced into  thi»  debate.  I  allude  to  tlie  charge  brought  against  the  manu- 
facturing system,  as  favoring  the  growth  of  aristocracy.  If  it  were  true, 
would  gentlemen  prefer  supporting  foreign  accumulations  of  wealth,  by  that 
description  of  industry,  rather  than  in  their  own  country?  But  is  it  correct? 
The  joint  stock  companies  of  the  North,  as  I  understand  them,  are  nothine 
more  than  associations,  sometimes  of  hundreds,  by  means  of  which  the  small 
earnings  of  many  are  brought  into  a  common  stock,  and  the  associates,  obtain- 
ing corporate  privileges,  are  enabled  to  prosecute,  under  one  superintending 
head,  their  business  to  better  advantage.  Nothing  can  be  more  essentially 
democratic  or  better  devised  to  counterpoise  the  influence  of  individual  wealth. 
In  Kentucky,  almost  every  manufactory  known  to  me,  is  in  the  hands  of  en- 
terprising and  self-made  men,  who  have  acquired  whatever  wealth  they  pos- 
sess by  patient  and  diligent  labor.  Comparisons  are  odious,  aud,  but  in  de- 
fence, would  not  be  made  by  me.  But  is  there  more  tendency  toaristocracy, 
in  a  manufactory,  supporting  hundreds  of  freemen,  or  in  a  cotton  plantation, 
with  its  not  less  numerous  slaves,  sustaining,  perhaps,  only  two  white  families — 
that  of  the  master  and  the  overseer? 

I  pass,  with  pleasure,  from  this  disagreeable  topic,  to  two  general  proposi- 
tions which  cover  the  entire  ground  of  debate.     Miq  first  is  that,  under  the 


( 


I 


it  the  torch 
ri«cH.  We 
iploy  thftn^ 
jufactorips. 
ti/pns,  haH 
but  he  per- 
\Vc  found 
ciaiums  i'or 

turc;  must 
UMt  wc  iiup- 
bc  (lone  to 
ilicvcd  that 
in  branches 
oughout  her 

le  honorable 
iiority,  and 
'he  m({}orit)/ 
8  of  the  rai- 
Le  any  but  a 
ome  with  an 
her  of  a  ma- 
hat  nugorit  V 
)n  the  fourth 
1  and  forest, 
Ih  of  patron - 

Frcttident'H 
68 :  (live  UA 
'h  bard  was 
to  the  fami- 
c  dependent 
right  of  frce- 
ng  children, 
ace,  for  any 
)Ught,  by  the 
;ood  names — 

in  the  uiiditt 

soil  of  Vir- 
cted  justice, 

the  oppres- 


irily  been  in- 
the  manu- 

were  true, 
alth,  by  that 
is  it  correct? 

are  nothing 
ch  the  small 
iates,  obtain- 
perintending 
essential  ly 

dual  wealth, 
lands  of  en- 
Ith  they  poa- 
d,  but  in  de- 
1)  aristocracy, 
n  plantation, 
ite  families — 

leral  proposi- 
it,  under  the 


2i 

operation  of  'he  American  System,  Iho  ohjtcts  whidi  it  protects  nml  fosters 
Are  brought  to  the  consumer  at  cheaper  prices  than  they  commanded  prior  <o 
its  intrmTuction,  or  than  they  would  command  if  it  diet  not  exist.  If  that  be 
true,  ought  not  the  country  to  bo  contented  and  satisfied  with  the  Systein,  un- 
less the  second  proposition,  which  1  meaii  presently  also  to  consider,  is  un- 
founded? An«l  (nat  is,  that  the  tendeticy  of  the  System  is  to  sustain,  and  that 
it  lias  upheld,  the  prices  of  all  our  agricultural  and  other  produce,  including 
cotton. 

And  is  th»  fact  not  indisputable,  that  all  essential  objects  of  const,  aiption, 
aflected  by  the  tariff,  are  cheaper  and  better,  since  the  act  of  1821,  than  they 
were  for  several  years  prior  to  that  law?  I  appeal,  for  its  truth,  to  common 
observation  and  to  all  practical  men.  I  appeal  to  the  farmer  of  the  country, 
whether  he  does  not  purchase,  on  better  terms,  his  iron,  salt,  brown  sugar, 
cottongood8,and  woollens,  for  his  laboringpeople?  Arid  lask  the  cotton  plant- 
er if  he  has  not  been  better  and  more  cheaply  supplied  with  his  cotton  bag- 
ging? In  regard  to  this  latter  article,  the  gentleman  frpm  South  Carolina  was 
mistaken  in  supposing  that  I  complained  that,  under  the  existing  duty,  the 
Kentucky  manufacturer  could  not  compete  with  the  Scotch.  The  Kentuckian 
furnishes  a  more  substantial  and  a  cheaper  article,  and  at  a  more  uniform  and 
regular  price.  But  it  was  the  frauds,  the  violations  of  law,  of  which  I  did 
complain:  Not  smuggling,  in  the  common  sense  of  that  practice,  which  has 
something  bold,  daring,  and  enterprising  in  it,  but  mean,  bare  faced  cheating 
by  fraudulent  invoices  ami  false  denomination. 

I  plant  myself  upon  this  FACT,  of  cheapness  and  superiority,  as  upon  im- 
picgnable  ground.  Gentlemen  may  tax  their  ingenuity  and  produce  a  thou- 
sand speculative  solutions  of  the  fact,  but  the  (act  itself  will  remain  undis- 
turbed. Let  us  look  into  some  particulars.  The  total  consumption  of  bar  iron, 
in  the  United  States,  is  supposed  to  be  about  146,000  tons,  of  which,  112,866 
tons  are  made  within  the  country,  and  the  residue  imported.  The  number 
of  men  employed  in  the  inanufact  ire  is  estimated  at  29,254,  and  the  total 
number  of  persons  subsisted  by  it,  at  146,273.  The  measure  of  protection 
extended  to  this  necessary  article,  was  never  fully  adequate  until  the  passage 
of  the  act  of  1828;  and  what  has  been  the  consequence?  The  annual  increase 
of  quantity,  since  that  period,  has  been  in  a  ratio  of  near  twenty-five  per 
cent,  and  the  wholesale  price  of  bar  iron  in  the  Northern  cities,  was,  in  1828, 
$105  per  ton,  in  1829,  $100,  in  1830,  $90,  and  in  1831,  from  $85  to  $75— con- 
stantly diminishing.  We  import  very  little  English  iron,  and  that  which  wc 
do,  is  very  inferior,  and  only  adapted  to  a  few  purposes.  In  instituting  a  com  - 
parison  between  that  inferior  article  and  our  superior  iron,  subjects,  entirely 
different,  aie  compared.  They  are  made  by  different  processes.  The  Eng- 
lish cannot  make  iron  of  equal  quality  to  ours,  at  a  less  price  than  wc  do. 
They  have  three  classes,  best-best,  and  best,  and  ordinary.  It  is  th6  latter 
which  is  imported.  Of  the  whole  amount  imported,  there  is  only  about 
4,000  tons  of  foreign  iron  that  pays  the  high  duty;  the  residue  paying  only  a 
duty  of  about  thirty  per  cent.,  estimated  on  the  prices  of  the  importation  of  1829. 
Our  iron  ore  is  sunerictr  to  that  of  Great  Britain,  yielding  often  from  sixty  to 
eighty  per  cent.,  whilst  theirs  produces  only  about  twenty-five.  This  fact  is  so 
well  Known,  that  I  have  heard  of  recent  exportations  of  iron  ore  to  England.* 

It  has  been  alleged,  that  bar  iron,  being  a  raw  material,  ought  to  beaoimitted 
free,  or  with  low  duties,  for  the  sake  of  the  manufacturers  themselves.  But  I 
take  this  to  be  the  true  principle,  that,  if  our  country  is  prpducing  a  raw  mate- 
rial of  prime  necessity,  and,  with  reasonable  protection,  can  produce  it  iti 
sufficient  quantity  to  supply  our  wants,  that  raw  material  ought  to  be  protect- 
ed, although  it  may  be  proper  to  protect  the  article  also  out  of  which  it  is 
manufactured.  The  tailor  will  ask  protection  for  himself,  but  wishes  it  de- 
nied to  the  grower  of  wool  and  the  manufacturer  of  broad  cloth.  The  cotton 
planter  enjoys  protection  for  the  raw  material,  but  does  not  desire  it  to  be  ex- 
tended to  the  cotton  manufacturer.  The  ship-builder  will  ask  protection  for 
navigation,  ^ut  does  not  wish  it  extended  to  the  essential  articles  which  enter 
into  the  construction  of  his  ship.    Each,  in  his  proper  vocation,  solicits  pro- 

*  Ste  Appendix,  G,  for  a  statement  of  the  iron  produced  in  a  single  county,  &ic.  &c. 


.M  *< 


iS 


;l 


33 

tectton,  but  would  have  it  denied  to  all  other  interests  which  are  aupposed  ta 
coQie  into  collision  with  his.  Now,  the'  duty  of  the  statesman  is,  to  elevate 
himself  abovo  these  petty  ronflictsi  calmly  to  survey  all  the  various  interests, 
and  delit>erately  to  pioportion  the  measure  of  protection  to  each,  according  to 
its  nature  and  tu  the  general  wants  of  society.  It  is  quite  puHsibIc  that,  in  the 
degree  of  protection  which  has  been  aftbrded  to  the  various  workers  in  iron, 
there  maybe  some  error  committed,  although  I  have  lately  read  an  argument 
of  much  ability,  proving  that  no  injustice  has  really  been  done  to  them.  If 
there  be,  it  ou^lit  to  be  remedied. 

The  next  article  to  which  1  would  call  the  attention  of  the  Senate,  is  that 
of  cotton  fabrics.  The  success  of  our  manufacture  of  coart^c  cottons  is  gen< 
erally  admitted.  It  is  demonstrated  by  the  fact  that  they  meet  the  cotton  fa- 
brics of  other  countries,  in  foreign  markets,  and  maintain  a  successful  com- 
petition with  them.  There  has  been  a  graiuial  increase  of  the  export  of  thin 
article,  which  is  sent  to  Mexico  and  (he  Houth  American  Republics,  to  the 
Mediterranean,  and  even  to  Asia.  The  remarkable  fact  was  lately  commu- 
nicated to  me,  that  the  same  individual  who,  twenty-five  years  ago,  was  en- 
gaged in  the  importation  of  cotton  cloth  frotn  Asia,  for  American  consump- 
tion, is  now  engaged  in  the  exportation  of  coarse  American  cottons  to  Asia, 
for  Asiatic  consumption!  And  my  honorable  friend  from  Massachusetts,  now 
in  my  eye,  (Mr.  Silsbek^  informed  me  that,  on  his  departure  from  home, 
among  the  last  orders  which  he  ^ave,  one  was  for  the  exportation  of  coarse 
cottons  to  Suimitrn,  in  the  vicinity  of  Calcutta!  I  hold  in  my  hand  a  state- 
ment, derived  from  the  most  authentic  source,  showing  that  the  identical  Ao- 
scriptiim  of  cotton  cloth,  which  sold,  in  1817,  at  twenty-nine  cents  per  yard, 
was  sold,  in  1819,  at  twenty-one  cents;  in  1821,  at  nineteen  and  a  half  cents; 
in  1823,  at  seventeen  cents;  in  1825,  at  fourteen  and  a  half  cents;  in  1827,  at 
thirteen  cents;  in  1839.  at  nine  cents:  in  1830,at  nine  and  a  half  cents;  and 
in  1831;  at  from  ten  and  a  half  to  eleven.  Such  is  the  wonderful  ef!ect  of 
protection,  competition,  and  improvement  in  skill, combined!  The  year  1829 
was  one  of  some  sutVcriiig  to  this  branch  of  iiulustry,  probably  owing  ta 
the  principle  of  competition  being  pushed  too  far;  and  hence  we-obscrvc  a 
small  rise  in  the  article  the  next  two  years.  The  introduction  of  calico  print- 
ing into  the  United  States,  constitutes  an  important  era  in  our  manufacturing 
industry.  It  commenced  about  the  year  1825,  and  has  since  made  such  as- 
tonishing advances,  that  the  whole  quantity  now  annually  printed  is  but  little 
short  ofTorty  millions  of  yards — about  two-thirds  of  our  whole  consumption. 
It  is  a  beautiful  manufacture,  combining  great  mechanical  skill  with  scientific 
discoveries  in  chemistry.  The  engraved  cylinders  for  making  the  impres- 
sion require  much  taste,  and  put  in  requisition  the  genius  of  the  fine  arts  of 
design  and  engraving.  Are  the  fine  graceful  forms  of  our  fair  countrywomen 
leiss  lovely  when  enveloped  in  the  chintses  and  calicoes  produced  by  native 
industry,  than  when  clothed  in  the  tinsel  of  foreign  drapery? 

Gentlemen  are,  no  doubt,  surprised  at  these  facts.  They  should  not  under- 
rate the  energies,  the  enterprise,  and  the  skill,  of  our  fellow -citizens.  I  have 
no  doubt  they  are  every  way  competent  to  accomplish  whatever  can  be  effect- 
ed by  any  other  People,  if  encouraged  and  protected  by  the  fostering  care  of 
our  own  Government.  Will  gentlemen  believe  the  fact,  which  I  am  autho- 
rized now  to  state,  that  the  United  States,  at  this  time,  manufacture  One  half 
the  quantity  of  cotton  which  Great  Britain  did  in  181 C!  We  possess  three  great 
advantages:  1st.  The  raw  material.    2d,  Water  power  instead  of  thatof  steam, 

f;enerally  used  in  England.  And  3d.  The  cheaper  labor  of  females.  InEng- 
and,  males  spin  with  the  mule  and  weave;  in  this  country  women  and  girls 
spin  with  the  tnrostle  and  supei-intend  the  power  loom.  And  can  there  be  any 
employment  more  appropciate?  Who  has  not  been  delighted  with  contemplat- 
ing the  clock-work  regularity  of  a  large  cotton  manufactory?  I  have  often  vi- 
sited them,  at  Cincinnati  and  other  places,  and  always  with  increased  admi- 
ration. Tne  women,  separated  from  the  other  sex,  work  in  apartments,  large, 
airy,  well  warmed,  and  spacious.  Neatly  dressed,  with  ruudy  complexions, 
and  happy  countenances,  they  watch  the  work  before  them,  mend  the  broken 
threads,  and  replace  the  exhausted  balls  or  broaches.  At  stated  hours  they 
are  called  to  their  meals,  and  go  and  return  with  light  and  cheerful  step.    At 


1 


f 


S 


I 


tuppoted  to 
,  to  elevate 
8  interests, 
[■cording  to 
tliiit,  in  the 
era  in  iron, 
1  argument 
)  them.    If 

late,  is  that 
tuns  i»  gen< 
!  cotton  fa- 
essful  com- 
port of  thin 
Dies,  to  the 
>ly  commu- 
;o,  was  en- 
I  consump- 
in»  to  Asia, 
usetts,  now 
from  Hume, 
n  of  conrsp 
intl  a  state - 
lentical  de- 
t»  per  yard, 
I  half  cents; 
in  1827,  at 
cents;  and 
•fill  oftect  of 
cyear  1829 
y  owing  to 
e- observe  a 
nilico  print- 
inufacturing 
ide  such  as- 
is  but  little 
msumption. 
th  scientific 
the  imprcs- 
fine  arts  of 
ntrywomen 
id  by  native 

I  not  under- 
!ns.  I  have 
in  be  eft'ect- 
Ting  care  of 

am  autho- 
ure  One  half 
s  three  great 
lat  of  steam. 
In  Eng- 
en  and  girls 
there  be  any 
contemplat- 
ive often  vi  • 
jased  admi- 
(lents,  large, 
omplexions, 

the  broken 
I  hours  they 
ul  step.    At 


38 

night  thoy  separate,  and  repair  to  their  renpective  houMes,  under  the  care  of  a 
mother,  guuriiian,  or  friend.  "  Six  days  nhalt  thou  labor  and  do  all  that  thou 
hast  to  iFo,  but  the  seventh  tlay  is  the  Mabbath  of  the  Lord  thy  Ootl.','  Ac- 
cordingly, we  behold  them,  on  that  sacred  day,  assembled  together  in  His  tem- 
ples, and  in  ilevotional  attitudes  and  with  pious  countenances  «)fteriiig  their 
prayers  to  Heaven  for  all  its  blessings,  <»f  \\^w\\  it  is  not  the  least  thata  sys- 
tetn  of  policy  has  been  adopted  by  their  counti  y,  which  admits  of  their  obtain- 
ing comfortable  subsistence.  Manufactwcs  have  bnmgbt  into  proiitable  em- 
pU)yment  a  vast  amount  of  female  labor,  which,  willioiit  th»Mn,  would  be  lost 
to  the  fountry. 

in  respect  to  woollens,  every  gentleman's  own  observation  and  experience 
will  enable  him  to  jucke  of  the  great  reduid  in  of  price  wliirh  has  taken  place 
in  most  of  these  articles,  since  the  tarift'  ol  iH'il.  It  would  I:  ve  been  still 
greater,  but  for  the  high  duty  on  the  raw  material  imposed  for  the  particular 
bt'iiefit  of  the  farming  interest.  But,  without  going  into  particular  details,  I 
shall  limit  myself  to  inviting  the  attention  of  the  Senate  to  a  single  article  of 
general  and  necessary  use.  The  protection  given  to  flannels  in  1828  was  fully 
adc(juate.  It  has  enabled  the  American  manufacturer  to  obtain  complete  pos- 
session of  llie  American  marketj  and  now,  let  us  look  at  the  ett'ect.  1  have 
before  me  a  statement  fidin  a  highly  respectable  mercantile  house,  showing 
the  price  of  four  descriptions  of  tiannel,  during  six  years.  The  average  price 
of  them,  in  1826,  was  thirty-eight  and  threc-uuartercentsj  in  1827,  thirty-eight; 
in  1828,  (the  year  of  the  tariff)  forty-six;  in  1829,  thirty-six;  in  1830,  (not- 
withstanding the  advance  in  the  price  of  wool)  thirty-two;  and  in  1831,  thir- 
ty-two and  one-quarter.  These  facts  require  no  'comments.*  I  have  before 
me  another  statement,  of  a  practical  anil  respectable  man,  well  versed  in  the 
flannel  manufacture  in  America  and  England,  demonstrating  that  the  cost  of 
manufacture  is  precisely  the  same  in  both  countries;  and  that,  although  a  yard 
of  flannel,  which  would  sell  in  England  at  fifteen  cents,  would  command  nere 
twenty-two,  the  difference  of  seven  cents  is  the  exact  difterence  between  the 
cost  in  the  two  countries,  of  the  six  ounces  of  wool  contained  in  a  yard  of 
flannel. 

Brown  sugar,  during  ten  years,  from  1792  to  1802,  with  a  duty  of  one  and 
a-half  cents  per  pound,  averaged  fourteen  cents  per  pound.  Tne  same  arti- 
cle, during  ten  years,  from  1820  to  1830,  with  a  duty  of  three  cents,  has  aver- 
aged only  eight  cents  per  pound.  Nails,  with  a  duty  of  five  cents  per  pound, 
are  selling  at  six  cents.  Window  glass,  eight  by  ten,  prior  to  the  tariffof  1824, 
sold  at  twelve  or  thirteen  dollars  per  hundred  feet;  it  now  sells  for  three  dol- 
lars seventy-five  cents. 

The  gentleman  from  South  Carolina,  sensible  of  the  incontestable  fact  of 
the  very  great  reduction  in  the  prices  of  the  necessaries  of  life,  protected  by 
the  American  System,  has  felt  the  full  force  of  it,  and  has  presented  various 
explanations  of  the  causes  to  which  he  ascribes  it.  The  first  is  the  diminished 
production  of  the  precious  metals,  in  consequence  flf  the  distressed  state  of 
the  countries  in  wnich  they  are  extracted,  and  the  consequent  increase  of 
•their  value  relative  to  that  of  the  commodities  for  which  they  are  exchanged. 
But,  if  this  be  the  true  cause  of  the  reduction  of  price,  its  operation  ought  to 
have  been  general,  on  all  objects,  and  of  course  upon  cotton  among  the  rest. 
And,  in  point  of  iact,  the  diminished  price  of  that  staple  is  not  greater  than 
the  dimunition  of  the  value  of  other  staples  of  our  agriculture.  Flour,  which 
commanded,  some  years  ago,  ten  or  twelve  dollars  per  barrel,  is  now  sold  for 
five.  The  fall  of  tobacco  has  been  still  more.  The  Kite  foot  of  Maryland, 
which  sold  at  from  sixteen  to  twenty  dollars  per  hundred,  now  produces  only 
four  or  five.  That  of  Virginia  has  sustained  an  eaual  decline.  Beef,  pork, 
every  article,  almost,  promiced  by  the  farmer,  has  decreased  in  value.  Ought 
not  South  Carolina  then  to  submit  quietly  to  a  state  of  things,  which  is  gen- 
eral, and  proceeds  from  an  uncontrollable  cause?  Ought  she  to  ascribe  to  the 
"accursed"  tarift* what  results  from  the  calamities  of  civil  and  foreign  war, 
raging  in  many  countries? 

But,  sir,  I  do  not  subscribe  to  this  doctrine  implicitly.     I  do  not  believe 

*  S«e  Appendix,  letter  H,  for  tlie  MrooUtn  inktiufactories  in  a  singula  county. 


.^  *.». 


!       I' 

Uli, 


I'M 


4'X 


',•' 


I;. 


1 


I 


24 

that  the  climinished  production  _of  the  precious  uictals,  if  that  be  the  fact,  sa- 
tisfactorily accounts  for  the  fall  in  prices:  For,  I  think,  that  the  augmentation 
of  the  currency  of  the  world,  by  means  of  banks,  public  stocks,  and  other  fa- 
cilities arising  out  of  exchange  and  credit,  has  more  than  supplied  any  defi- 
ciency in  the  amount  of  the  precious  nietals. 

It  is  further  urged  that  the  restoration  of  peace  in  Europe,  after  the  battle 
of  Waterloo,  and  the  consequent  retnrn  to  peaceful  pursuits  of  large  masses 
of  its  population,  by  greatly  increasing  the  aggregate  amount  of  eftective  labor, 
had  a  tendency  to  lov.er  prices;  and  undoubtedly  such  ought  to  have  been  its 
natural  tendency.  The  same  cause,  however,  must  also  have  operated  to  re- 
duce the  price  of  our  agricultural  produce,  for  which  there  was  no  longer  jthe 
same  demand  in  peace  as  in  war— and  it  did  so  operate.  But  its  influence' on 
the  pi'ce  of  manufactured  articles,  between  the  general  peace  of  Europe  in 
J815,  arid  the  adoption  of  our  tariff  in  1824,  was  less  sensibly  felt,  because, 
perhaps  a  much  larger  portion  of  the  labor,  liberated  by  the  disbandment  of 
armies,  was  absorbed  by  manufactures  than  by  a«;riculture.  It  is  also  con- 
tended that  the  invention  and  improvement  of  labor  saving  machinery  have 
tended  to  lessen  the  prices  of  manufactured  objects  of  consumptionj  and  un- 
doubtedly this  cause  nas  had  some  effect.  Ought  not  America  to  contribute 
her  quota  of  this  cause,  and  has  she  not,  by  her  skill  and  extraordinary  adap- 
tation to  the  arts,  in  truth,  largely  contributed  to  it? 

_  This  brings  me  to  consider  what,  I  apprehend  to  have  been,  the  most  effi- 
cient of  all  the  causes  in  the  reduction  of  the  prices  of  manufactured  articles — 
and  that  is,  coMPErixtoN.  By  competition,  the  total  amount  of  the  supply  is 
increased,  and  by  increase  of  the  supply,  a  competition  in  the  sale  ensues, 
and  this  enables  the  consumer  to  buy  at  lower  rates.  Of  all  human  povyers 
operating  on  the  affairs  of  mankind,  none  is -greater  than  that  of  competition. 
It  is  action  and  reaction.  It  operates  between  individuals  in  the  same  nation, 
and  between  different  nations.  It  resembles  the  meeting  of  the  mountain 
torrent,  grooving,  by  its  precipitous  motion,  its  own  channel,  and  ocean's  tide- 
Unopposed,  it  sweeps  every  thing  before  it;  but,  counterpoised,  the  waters 
become  calm,  safe,  and  regular.  It  is  like  the  segments  of  a  circle  or  an 
arch;  taken  separately,  eacn  is  nothing;  but,  in  their  combination,  they  produce 
efficiency,  symmetry,  and  perfection.  By  the  American  System  this  vast 
power  has  been  excited  in  America,  and  brought  into  being  to  act  in  co-opera- 
tion or  collision  with  European  industry.  Europe  acts  within  itself,  and  with 
America;  and  America  acts  within  itself,  and  with  Europe.  The  consequence 
is,  the  reduction  of  prices  in  both  hemispheres.  Nor^s  it  fair  to  argue,  from 
the  reduction  of  prices  in  Europe,  to  her  own  presumed  skill  and  labor,  ex- 
clusively. We  affect  her  prices,  and  she  affecis  ours.  This  must  always  be 
the  case,  at  least  in  reference  to  any  articles  as  to  which  there  is  not  a  total 
non-intercourse;  and  if  our  industry,  by  diminishing  the  demand  for  her  sup- 
plies, should  produce  a  diminution  in  the  price  of  those  supplies,  it  would  be 
very  unfair  to  ascribe  that  reduction  to  her  ingenuity,  instead  of  placing  it  to 
the  credit  of  our  own  skill  and  excited  industry. 

Practical  men  understand  very  well  this  state  of  the  case,  whether  they 
do  or  do  not  comprehend  the  causes  which  produce  it.  I  have  in  my  pos- 
session a  letter  from  a  respectable  merchant,  well  known  to  me,  in  whicn  he 
says,  after  complaining  of  the  operation  of  the  tariff  of  1838,  on  the  articles  to 
which  it  applies,  some  of  which  he  had  imported,  and  that,  his  purchases  hav- 
ing been  made  in  England,  before  the  passage  of  that  tarif!"  was  known,  it 
produced  such  an  effect  upon  the  English  marltet,  that  the  articles  could  not 
oe  re-;jold  without  loss,  he  adds:  "for  it  rea/Zt/ appears  that,  when  additional 
duties  are  laid  upon  an  article,  it  then  becomes  lower,  instead  of  higher.^* 
This  could  not  protfebly  happen,  where  the  supply  of  the  foreign  article  did 
not  exceed  the  home  demand,  unless,  upon  the  supposition  of  the  increased 
duty  having  excited  or  stimulated  tht^  measure  of  the  home  production. 

The  great  law  of  price  is  determined  by  supply  and  demand.  Whatever 
affects  either,  affects  the  price.  .If  the  supply  is  increased,  the  demand  re- 
maining the  same,  the  price  declines;  if  the  demand  is  increased,  the  supply 
remaining  the  same»  the  price  advances;  if  both  supply  and  demand  are  un- 
diminished, the  price  is  stationary,  and  the  priceis  influenced  exactly  in  propor- 


m 


tHr*'*t- ~^ 


fict,  sa- 
entation 
)ther  Ta- 
lly defi- 
le battle 
;  masses 
ve  labor, 
been  its 
ed  to  re- 
nder the 
icnce"  on 
urupe  in 
because, 
Iment  of 
Iso  con- 
ery  have 
and  un 
antribute 
iry  adap- 

Tfiost  effi- 
irticles — 
supply  is 
e  ensues, 
n  powers 
ipetition. 
le  nation, 
mountain 
an's  tide- 
he  waters 
cle  or  an 
y  produce 
this  vast 
co-opera- 
and  with 
isequence 
gue,  from 
jor,  ex- 
ways  be 
ot  a  total 
ler  sup- 
would  be 
Lcing  it  to 

ther  they 
my  DOS- 
which  he 
tides  to 
ases  hay- 
nown,  it 
could  not 
dditional 
higher.'^'' 
rticle  did 
ncreased 
m. 

iVhatever 
mand  re- 
le  supply 
"  are  un- 
n  propor- 


I 


25 

tion  to  the  degree  of  disturbance  to  the  dcmard  or  supply.  It  is  therefore  a  greaf; 
error  to  suppose  that  an  existing  or  new  duty  ncccssari/i/ becomes  a  compo- 
nent element,  to  its  exact  amount,  of  price.  It  the  proportions  of  demand 
and  supply  are  varied  by  the  duty,  either  in  augmenting  the  supply,  or  dimin- , 
isliing  the  demand,  or  vice  versa,  price  is  aftected,  to  the  extent  of  that  varia- 
tion. But  the  duty  never  becomes  an  integral  part  of  the  price,  except  in 
the  instances  where  the  demaiiU  and  the  supply  remain,  after  the  duty  is  im- 
posed, precisely  what  they  were  before,  or  the  demand  is  increased,  and  the 
supply  remains  stationary. 

Competition,  therefore,  wherever  existing,  whether  at  home  or  abroad,  is 
the  parent  cause  of  cheapness.  If  a  high  cfuty  excites  production  at  home, 
and  the  quantity  of  the  domestic  article  exceeds  the  amount  which  had  been 

f»reviously  imported,  the  price  will  fall.  This  accounts  for  an  extraordinary 
act  stated  by  a  Senator  from  Missouri.  Three  cents  were  laid  as  a  duty  upon 
a  pound  of  lead,  by  the  act  of  1828.  The  price  at  Galena,  and  the  other 
lead  mines,  afterwards  fell  to  one  and  a  half  cents  per  pound.  Now  it 
is  obvious,  that  the  duty  did  not,  in  this  case,  enter  into  the  price:  for  it 
was  twice  the  amount  of  the  price*  What  produced  the  fall  ?  It  was  s/i- 
mulaled  production  at  home,  exerted  by  the  temptation  of  the  exclusive 
possession  of  the  home  market.  This  state  of  things  could  not  last.  Men 
would  not  continue  an  unprofitable  pursuit;  some  abandoned  the  business,  or 
the  total  quantity  produced  was  diminished,  and  living  prices  ha\c  been  the 
consequence.  But,  break  down  the  domestic  supply,  place  us  again  in  a  state 
of  tiependence  on  the  foreign  source,  and  can  it  be  doubted  that  we  shoul'.l 
ultimately  have  to  supply  ourselves  at  dearer  rates?  It  is  not  fair  to  credit  the 
foreign  market  with  the  depression  of  prices  produced  there  by  the  influence 
of  our  competition.  Let  the  competition  be  withdrawn,  and  their  prices 
would  instantly  rise.  On  this  subject,  great  mistakes  are  committed.  I  have 
seen  some  most  erroneous  reasoning,  in  a  late  report  of  Mr.  Lee,  of  the  Free 
Trade  Convention,  in  regard  to  the  article  of  sugar.  He  calculates  the  total 
amount  of  brmvn  sugar  produced  in  the  world,  and  then  states  that  what  is 
made  in  Louisiana  is  not  more  than  two  and  a  half  per  cent,  of  that  total. 
Although  his  data  may  be  questioned,  let  us  assume  their  truth,  and  what 
might  be  the  result?  rrice  being  determined  by  the  proportions  of  supply  and 
demand,  it  is  evident  that,  when  the  supply  exceeds  tne  demand,  the  price 
will  fall.  And  the  fall  is  not  always  regulated  by  the  amount  of  that  excess. 
If  the  market,  at  a  given  price,  reauired  five  or  fifty  millions  of  hogsheads  of 
sugar,  a  surplus  of  only  a  fevv  hundred  might  materially  influence  the  price, 
and  dift'use  itself  throughout  the  whole  rnass.  Add,  therefore,  the  eighty^or 
one  hundred  thousand  hogsheads  of  Louisiana  sugar  to  the  entire  mass  pi-o- 
duced  in  other  parts  of  the  world,  and  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  a  mateiial 
reduction  of  the  price  of  the  article,  throughout  Europe  and  America,  would 
take  place.  The  Louisiana  sugar  substituting  foreign  sugar,  in  the  home  mar- 
ket, to  the  amount  of  its  annual  produce,  would  force  an  equal  amount  of 
foreign  su^ar  into  other  markets,  which  being  glutted,  the  price  would  neces- 
sarily decline,  and  this  decline  of  price  would  press  portions  of  the  foreign 
sugar  into  competition,  in  the  United  States,  with  Louisiana  sugar,  the  price 
of  which  would  also  be  broudit  down.  The  I'act  has  been  in  exact  conformity 
with  this  theory.  But  now  let  us  suppose  the  Louisiana  sugar  to  be  entirely 
withdrawn  from  th«  general  consumption — what  then  would  happen?  A  new 
demand  would  be  created  in  America  for  foreign  sugar,  to  the  extent  of  the 
eighty  or  one  hundred  thousand  hogsheads  made  in  Louisiana;  a  less  aiuouiit. 
by  that  quantity,  would  be  sent  to  the  European  markets;  and  the  price  would 
consequently  every  where  rise.  It  is  not,  therefore,  those  who,  by  keeping  on 
duties,  keep  down  prices,  that  tax  the  People,  but  those  who,  by  repealing  du- 
ties, would  raise  prices,  that  really  impose  burthens  upon  the  People. 

But  it  is  argued  that,  if,  by  the  skill,  experience,  and  perfection,  which  we 
have  acquired,  in  certain  branches  of  manufacture,  they  can  be  made  as  cheap 
as  similar  articles  abroad,  and  enter  fairly  into  competition  with  them,  why 
not  repeal  the  duties  as  to  those  articles?  And  why  should  we?  Assuming 
the  truth  of  the  supposition,  the  foreign  article  would  not  be  introduced  in  a 
regular  course  of  trade,  but  would  remain  excluded  by  the  posseusion  of  tht 


w>- 


26 

home  market,  which  the  domestic  article  had  obtained.  The  repeal,  therefore^ 
would  have  no  legitimate  eflect.  But  might  not  the  foreign  article  be  im- 
ported in  vast  quantities,  to  glut  our  markets,  break  down  our  establishments, 
and  ultimately,  to  enable  the  foreigner  to  monopolize  the  supply  of  our  con- 
sumption? _  America  is  the  greatest  foreign  market  for  European  manufac- 
tures. It  is  that  to  which  European  attention  is  constantly  directed.  If  a 
great  house  becomes  bankrupt,  there,  its  storehouses  are  emptied,  and  the 
goods  are  shipped  to  America,  where,  in  consequence  of  our  auctions,  and 
our  custom-house  credits,  the  greatest  fi^cilities  are  afforded  in  the  sale  of 
them.  Combinations  among  manufacturers  might  take  place,  or  even  the 
operations  of  foreign  Governments  might  be  directed  to  the  destruction  of 
our  establishments.  A  repeal,  therefore,  of  one  protecting  duty,  from  some  one 
or  all  of  these  causes,  would  be  followed  by  flooding  the  country  with  the  fo- 
reign fabric,  surcharging  the  market,  reducing  the  price,  and  a  complete  pros- 
tration of  our  manulactorics;  after  which  the  foreigner  would  leisurely  look 
about  to  indemniiy  himself  in  the  increased  prices  wliich  he  would  be  enabled 
to  command  by  his  monopoly  of  the  supply  of  our  consumption.  What  Ame- 
rican citizen,  after  the  Government  liad  displayed  this  vacillating  policy, 
would  be  again  tempted  to  place  the  smallest  confidence  in  the  public  laitn, 
and  advunture  once  more  in  this  branch  of  industry? 

Gentlemen  have  allowed  to  the  manufacturing  portions  of  the  community 
no  peace;  tiiey  have  been  constantly  threatened  with  the  overthrow  of  the 
American  System.  From  the  year  1820,  if  not  from  1816,  down  to  this,time, 
they  have  been  held  in  a  condition  of  constant  alarm  and  insecurity.  Nr thing 
is  more  prejudicial  to  the  great  interests  of  a  nation  than  unsettled  and  vary- 
ing  policy.  Althoughevery  appeal  to  the  National  Legislature  has  been  re- 
spimded  to,  in  conformity  with  the  wishes  and  sentiments  of  the  great  majority 
of  the  People,  measures  of  protection  have  only  been  carried  by  such  small 
majorities,  as  to  excite  hopts,  on  the  one  hand,  and  fears  on  the  other.  Let 
the  country  breathe,  let  its  vast  resources  be  developed,  let  its  energies  be  fully 
put  forth,  let  it  have  tranquillity,  and,  my  word  for  it,  the  degree  of  perfection 
m  the  arts  which  it  will  exhibit,  will  be  greater  than  that  which  lias  been  pre- 
sented, astonishing  as  our  progress  has  *>een.  Although  some  branches  ot  our 
manufactures  might,  and,  m  foreign  markets,  now  <lo,  fearlessly  contend  with 
similai'  forei;E;n  liibrics,  there  are  many  others,  yet  in  their  infancy,  struggling 
with  the  difliculties  which  encompass  them.  We  should  look  at  the  whole 
system,  and  recollect  that  time,  when  we  contemplate  the  great  movements  of 
a  nati()n,  is  very  diHerent  from  the  short  period  which  is  allotted  for  the  dura- 
tion of  individual  life.  The  honorable  gentleman  from  South  Carolina  well  and 
eloquently  said,  in  1824,  "No  great  interest  of  any  country  ever  yet  grew  up 
"in  a  day;  no  new  branch  of  industry  can  become  firmly  and  prontably  esta- 


*' powers  gradually  developed,  shall  alone  attain  permanency* and  perfection. 
"  Thus  must  it  be  with  our  national  institutions  and  national  character  itself." 


I  feel  most  sensibly,  Mr.  President,  how  much  I  have  trespassed  upon  the 
Senate.  My  apology  is  a  deep  and  deliberate  conviction,  that  the  great  cause 
under  debate  involves  the  prosperity  and  the  destiny  of  the  Union.  But  the 
best  requital  I  can  make,  for  the  friendly  indulgence  which  has  been  extend- 
ed to  me  by  the  Senate,  and  for  which  I  shall  ever  retain  sentiments  of  last- 
ing gratitutle,  is  to  proceed,  with  as  little  delay  as  practicable,  to  the  conclu- 
sion of  a  discourse  which  has  not  been  more  tedious  to  the  Senate  than  ex- 
hausting to  me.  I  have  now  to  consider  the  remaining  of  the  two  proposi- 
tions which  I  have  already  announced.    That  is, 

2dly.  That,  under  the  operation  of  the  American  System,  the  products  of 
our  agriculture  command  a  higher  price  than  they  would  do  without  it,  by  the 
creation  of  a  h()me  market;  and,  by  the  augmentation  of  wealth  produced  by 
manufacturing  intjustry,  which  enlarges  our  powers  of  consumption  both  of 
domestic  and  foreign  articles.  The  importance"  of  the  home  market  is  among 
the  established  maxims  which  are  universally  recognised  by  all  writers  and 
all  men.     However  some  may  difi'er  as  to  the  relative  advantages  of  the  fo- 


it 
f 


i.-.i^ 


M>^l>A 


— U:...r..  r.. 


Jiercfore, 
le  be  im- 
ishmentSt 

our  con- 
manut'ac- 
ted.  It' a 
,  and  the 
ions,  and 
he  sale  of 

even  the 
ruction  of 
I  some  one 
th  the  fo- 
>lete  pro9- 
irely  look 
le  enabled 
hat  Ame- 


le  polic 
blic  tail 


I: 


ommunity 
ow  of  the 
this^time, 
N<thing 
and  vary- 
1  been  re- 
it  majority 
such  small 
ither.   Let 
ies  be  fully 
perfection 
been  pre- 
ches  ot  our 
titend  with 
struggling 
,  the  whole 
ements  of 
r  the  dura- 
a  well  and 
et  grew  up 
ably  esta- 
or  good, is 
is  of  small 
lence, that 
)erfection. 
er  itself. " 

upon  the 
reat  cause 

But  the 
n  ex  tend - 
ts  of  last- 
le  conclu- 

than  ex- 
a  proposi- 

oducts  of 
it,  by  the 
oduced  by 
»n  both  of 
t  is  among 
riters  and 
of  the  fo- 


1 


27 

reign  and  the  home  market,  none  deny  to  the  latter  great  value  and  high  con- 
sideration. It  is  nearer  to  us;  beyond  the  control  of  foreign  legislation;  and 
undisturbed  by  those  vicissitudes  to  which  all  inter-national  intercourse  is 
more  or  less  exposed.  The  most  stupid  are  sensible  of  the  benefit  of  a  resi- 
dence in  the  vicinity  of  a  large  manufactory,  or  a  market  town,  of  a  good 
road,  or  of  a  navigable  stream,  which  connects  their  farms  with  some  great 
capital.  If  the  pursuits  of  all  men  were  perfectly  the  same,  although  they 
would  be  in  possession  of  the  greatest  abundance  of  the  particular  produce  of 
their  industry,  they  might,  at  the  same  time,  be  in  extreme  want  ot  other  ne- 
cessary articles  of  human  subsistence.  The  uniformity  of  ihe  general  occu- 
pation would  p'-eclude  all  exchanges,  all  commerce.  It  is  only  m  the  diver- 
sity of  the  vocations  of  the  members  of  a  community  that  the  means  can  be 
found  for  those  salutary  exchanges  which  conduce  to  the  g-^neral  prosperity. 
And,  the  greater  that  diversity,  the  more  extensive  and  the  more  animating  is 
the  circle  of  exchange.  Even  if  foreign  markets  were  freely  and  widely 
open  to  the  reception  of  our  agricultural  produce,  from  its  bulky  nature,  and 
the  distance  of  the  interior,  and  the  dangers'  of  the  ocean,  large  portions  of 
it  could  never  profitably  reach  the  foreign  market.  But,  let  us  quit  this  fidd 
of  theory,  clear  as  it  is,  and  look  at  the  practical  operation  of  the  system  of 
protection,  beginning  with  the  most  valuable  staple  of  our  agriculture. 

In  considering  this  staple,  the  first  circumstance  that  excites  our  surprise 
is  the  rapidity  with  which  the  amount  of  it  has  annually  increased.  Does  not 
this  fact,  however,  demonstrate  that  the  cultivation  of  it  could  not  have  been 
so  very  unprofitable?  If  the  business  were  ruinous,  would  more  and  more 
liave  annually  engaged  in  it.**  The  quantity  in  1816  was  eighty-one  milFKms 
of  pounds;  in  1926  two  hundred  and  four  millions;  and,  in  1830,,  near  three 
hundred  millions!  The  ground  of  greatest  surprise  is,  that  it  has  been  able 
to  sustain  even  its  present  price  with  such  an  enormous  auginentaticm  of 
quantity.  It  could  not  have  done  it  but  for  the  combined  operation  of  three 
causes,  by  which  the  consumption  of  cotton  fabrics  has  been  greatly  extended, 
in  consequence  of  their  reduced. prices:  Ist,  competition;  2d,  the  improve- 
ment of  labor-saving  machinery;  and  3dly,  the  low  price  of  the  raw  ma- 
terial. The  crop  of  1819,  amounting  to  eighty-eight  millions  of  pounds,  pro- 
duced twenty -one  millions  of  dollars;  the  crop  of  1823,  when  the  amount  was 
swelled  to  one  hundred  and  seventy -four  millions,  (almost  double  that  of 
1819)  produced  a  less  sum,  by  more  than  half  a  million  of  dollars;  and  the 
crop  of  1824,  amounting  to  thirty  millions  of  pounds  \e»s  than  that  of  the  pre- 
cetiing  year,  produced  a  million  and  a  half  ot  dollars  more. 

If  there  be  any  foundation  for  the  established  lav/  of  price,  supply,  and  de- 
mand, .ought  not  the  fact  of  this  great  increase  of  f  ne  supply  to  account,  satis- 
factorily, for  the  alleged  low  price  of  cotton?  Is  it  necessary  to  look  ueyond 
that  single  fact  to  the  tarift— to  the  diminished  produce  of  the  mines  furnishing 
the  precious  metals,  or  to  any  other  cause,  for  the  solution?  This  subject  is  well 
understood  in  the  South;  and,  although  I  cannot  approve  the  practice  which 
has  been  introduced,  of  quotingauthority,  and  still  less  the  authority  of  news- 
papers, for  favorite  theories,  I  must  ask  permission  of  the  Senate  to  read  an 
article  from  a  Southern  newspaper.  *  [Here  General  Hayne  requested  Mr. 
Clay  to  give  the  name  of  the  authority,  that  it  might  appear  whether  it  was 
not  some  other  than  a  Soiitliern  paper  expressing  Southern  sentiments.  Mr. 
Clay  stated  that  it  was  from  the  Charleston  City  Gazette,  one,  he  believed, 
of  the  oldest  and  most  respectable  prints  in  that  city,  although  he  was  not 
«ure  what  might  be  its  sentiments  on  the  question  which  at  present  divides 
the  ueople  of  South  Carolina.]  The  article  comprises  ?  full  explanation  of 
the  tow  price  ot  cotton,  and  assigns  to  it  its  true  cause — ^^increasetl  production. 

Let  us  suppose  that  the  home  demand  tor  cotton,  which  has  been  created 
by  the  Americrai  System,  were  to  cease,  and  that  the  200,000t  bales,  which 

*  See  Appendix,  I,  for  the  article  refeiTcd  to. 

f  Mr.  Ci,AT  stated  that  he  assumed  the  quantity  which  was  generally  computed, 
but  lie  helieved  it  much  greater,  and  subsequent  inl'ormation  justifies  liis  belief.  It 
appears,  from  the  report  of  the  Cotton  Committee,  appointed  by  the  New  York  Con- 
vention, that  partial  returns  show  a  consumptien  of  upwards  of  250,000  bales;  that 


I! 
1,- 


!,.i 


'i;  I 


•iii-i 


1  iiif 


■  i 


I' 


il 


28 

the  home  market  now  absorbs,  were  thrown  into  the  glutted  markets  of  fo- 
reign countries,  would  not  the  effect  inevntably  be  to  produce  a  further  and 
great  reducti(m  in  the  price  of  the  article?  If  there  be  any  truth  in  the  facts 
and  principles  which  I  have  before  stated,  and  endeavored  to  illustrate,  it 
cannot  be  doubted  that  the  existence  of  American  manufactures  !ias  tended 
to  increase  the  demand,  and  extend  the  consumption  of  the  raw  material;  and 
that,  but  for  this  increased  demand,  the  price  of  the  article  would  have  fallen, 
possibly  one  half,  lower  than  it  now  is.  The  error  of  the  opposite  argument  is, 
in  assuming  one  thing,  whicii,  being  denied,  the  whole  fails;  that  is.  it  assumes, 
that  the  whoh  labor  of  the  United  States  would  be  profitably  employed,  with- 
out manufactures.  Now,  the  truth  is,  that  the  system  excites  and  creates  la- 
bor, and  this  labor  creates  wealth,  and  this  new  wealth  communicates  addi- 
tional ability  to  consume,  which  acts  on  all  the  objects  contributing  to  human 
comfort  and  enjoyment.  The  amount  of  cotton  imported  into  the  two  ports  of 
Boston  and  Providence  alone,  (during  the  last  year,  and  it  was  imported  ex- 
clusively for  the  home  manufacture^  was  109,517  bales. 

On  passing  from  that  article  to  others  of  our  agricultural  productions,  we 
shall  find  not  less  gratifying  facts.  The  total  quantity  of  flour  imported  into 
Boston,  during  the  same  year,  was 284,504  barrels  and  3,955  half  barrels;  of 
which,  there  were  from  Virginia.  Georgetown,  and  Alexandria,  114,223  bar- 
rels; of  Indian  corn,  681,131  bushels;  of  oats,  239,809  bushels;  ot  rye,  about 
50,000  bushels;  and  of  shorts,  33,489  bushels.  Into  the  port  of  Providence, 
71,369  barrels  of  flour,  216,662  bushels  of  Indian  corn,  and  7,772  bushels  of 
rye.  And  there  were  discharged  at  the  port  of  Philadelphia,  420,353  bushels 
of  Indian  corn,  201,878  bushels  of  wheat,  and  110,557  bushels  of  rye  and  bar- 
ley. There  were  slaughtered  in  Boston,  during  the  same  year,  1831,  (the 
only  northern  city  from  which  I  have  obtained  returns)  33,922  beef  cattle, 
15,400  stores,  84,453  sheep,  and  ^6,871  swine.  It  is  confidently  believed  that 
there  is  not  a  less  quantity  of  southern  flour  consumed  at  the  North  than 
800,000  bariels — a  greatei-  amount,  probably,  than  is  shipped  to  all  the  foreign 
markets  of  the  world  together. 

What  would  be  the  condition  of  the  farming  country  of  th' United  States — 
of  all  that  portion  which  lies  north,  east,  and  west  ot  James  river,  including 
a  large  part  of  North  Carolina,  if  a  home  market  did  not  exist  for  this  im- 
mense amount  of  agricultural  produce?  Without  that  market,  where  could  it 
be  sold?  In  foreign  markets?  If  their  restrictive  laws  did  not  exist,  their  ca- 
pacity would  not  enable  them  to  purchase  and  consume  this  vast  addition  to 
their  present  supplies,  \yhich  must  be  thrown  in,  or  thrown  away,  but  for  the 
hom«  market.  But  their  laws  exclude  us  from  their  markets.  1  shall  con- 
tent myself  by  calling  the  attention  of  the  Senate  to  Great  Britain  only.  The 
duties,  in  the  ports  of  the  United  Kingdom,  on  bread  stuffs,  arc  prohibitory, 
except  in  times  of  dearth.  On  rice,  the  duty  is  fifteen  shillings  sterling  per 
hunclred  weight,  being  more  than  one  hundred  per  cent.  On  manufactured 
tobacco,  it  is  nine  shillings  sterling  per  pound,  or  about  two  thousand  per  cent. 
On  leaf  tobacco,  three  shillings  per  pound,  or  one  thousand  two  hundred  per 
cent.  On  lumber  and  some  other  articles,  they  are  from  four  hundred  to  one 
thousand  five  hundred  per  cent,  more  than  on  similar  articles  imported  from 
British  colonies-  In  the  British  West  Indies,  the  duty  on  beef,  pork,  hami, 
and  bacon,  is  twelve  shillings  sterling  per  hundred,  more  than  one  hundred 
per  cent,  on  the  first  cost  ot  beef  and  pork  in  the  V^estern  States.  And  yet 
Great  Britain  is  the  Power  in  whose  behalf  we  are  called  upon  to  legislate  so 
that  we  may  enable  her  to  purchase  our  cotton !  Grea  Britain,  that  thinks  only  t 
of  herself  in  her  own  legislation !  When  have  we  experienced  justice,  much  less 
iavor,  at  her  hands?  When  did  she  shape  her  legislation  in  reference  to  the  in- 
terests of  any  foreign  Power?  She  is  a  great,  opulent,  and  powerful  nation; 
but  haughty,  arrogant,  and  supercilious.    Not  more  separated  from  the  rest  of 

the  cotton  manufacture  employs  near  40,000  females,  and  about  5,000  children;  that 
the  total  dependents  on  it  are  131,489;  that  the  annual  wages  paid  are  $12,155,723; 
the  annual  value  of  its  products,  $32,036,760;  the  capital,  $44,914,984;  the  number  ot 
mills,795;  of  spindles,  1,246,503;  and  of  cloth  made,  260,461,990  yards.  Tliis  state- 
ment does  not  comprehend  the  Western  manufactures. 


'«tov 


\li 


ets  of  fo- 
jither  and 
1  the  facts 
ustrate,  it 
las  tended 
terialjand 
ave  fallen, 
§uinen"t  is, 
t  assumes, 
(red,  with- 
creates  la- 
ates  addi- 
;  to  human 
vo  ports  of 
ported  ex- 

ctions,  we 
jorted  into 
barrels;  of 
4,222  bar- 
rye,  about 
'rovidence, 
bushels  of 
153  bushels 
e  and  bar- 
1831,  (the 
eef  cattle, 
lieved  that 
North  than 
the  foreign 

ed  States — 

',  including 

'or  this  ini- 

;re  could  it 

t,  their  ca- 

addition  to 

but  for  the 

shall  con- 

[)nly.   The 

Tohibitory, 

terling  per 

nufactured 

d  per  cent. 

u  ml  red  per 

Ired  to  one 

orted  from 

ork,  hamfe, 

le  hundred 

And  yet 

egislate  so 

links  onlyt 

,  much  less 

e  to  the  in- 

ful  nation; 

the  rest  of 

tiklrcii;  that 

12,155,723; 

e  number  ot 

Tills  state- 


■4 


29 

the  world  by  the  sea  that  girts  her  island,  than  she  is  separated  in  feeling, 
sympathy,  or  friendly  consideration  of  their  welfare.  Gentlemen,  in  suppos- 
ing it  impracticable  that  we  should  successfully  compete  with  her  in  manu- 
factures, do  injustice  to  the  skill  and  enterprise  of  their  own  country.  Gal- 
lant, as  Great  Britain  undoubtedly  is,  we  have  gloriously  contended  with  hei, 
man  to  man,  gun  to  gun,  ship  to  ship,  fleet  to  fleet,  and  army  to  army.  And 
I  have  no  doubt  we  are  destined  to  achieve  equal  success  in  the  more  useful, 
if  not  nobler  contest  for  superiority  in  the  arts  of  civil  life. 

1  could  extend  and  dwell  on  the  long  list  of  articles — the  hemp,  iron,  lead, 
coal,  and  ()ther  items,  for  which  a  demand  is  created  in  the  home  market,  by 
the  operation  of  the  American  System;  but  I  should  exhaust  the  patience  of 
the  Senate.  If  here,  whefe,  should  we  find  a  market  for  all  these  articles,  if  it 
did  not  exist  at  home?  What  would  be  the  condition  of  the  largest  portion  of 
our  People  and  of  the  territory,  if  this  home  market  were  annihilated.'*  How 
could  they  be  supplied  with  objects  of  prime  necessity?  What  would  not  be 
the  certain  and  inevitable  decline  in  the  price  of  all  these  articles,  but  for  the 
home  market?  And  allow  me,  Mr.  President,  to  say,  that,  of  all  the  agricul- 
tural parts  of  the  United  States  which  are  benefitted  by  the  operation  of  this 
system,  nr'^e  are  equally  so  \yith  those  which  border  the  Chesapeake  bay,  the 
lower  'parts  of  North  Carolina,  Virginia,  and  the  two  shores  of  Maryland. 
'I'heir  facilities  of  transpoi-fcition  and  proximity  to  the  North  give  them  decided 
advantages. 

But,  i7  all  this  reasoning  were  totally  fallacious — if  the  price  of  manufac- 
tured articles  were  really  higher,  under  the  American  System,  than  without 
it,  I  should  still  argue  that  high  or  low  prices  were  themselves  relative — rela- 
tive to  the  ability  to  pay  them.  It  is  in  vain  to  tempt,  to  tantalize  us  with 
the  lower  prices  of  European  fabrics  than  our  own,  it  we  have  nothing  where- 
with to  purchase  them.  If,  by  the  home  exchanges,  we  can  be  supplied  with 
necessary,  even  if  they  are  dearer  and  worse,  articles  of  American  produc- 
tion than  the  foreign,  it  is  better  than  not  to  be  supplied  at  all.  And  how 
would  the  large  portion  of  our  country  which  I  have  described,  be  supplied, 
but  for  the  home  exchanges?  A  poor  people,  destitute  of  wealth  or  of  ex- 
changeable commodities,  has  nothing  to  purchase  foreign  fabrics.  To  them 
they  are  equally  beyond  their  reach,  whether  their  cost  be  a  dollar  or  a  guinea. 
It  is  in  this  view  of  the  matter  that  Great  Britain,  by  her  vast  wealth — her 
exerted  and  protectediadixstry — is  enabled  to  bear  a  burthen  of  taxation  which, 
when  compared  to  that  of  other  nations,  appears  enormous;  but  which,  when 
her  immense  riches  are  compared  to  theirs,  is  light  and  trivial.  The  gentle- 
man from  South  Carolina  has  drawn  a  lively  and  flattering  picture  of  our 
coasts,  bays,  rivers,  and  harbors;  and  he  argues  that  these  proclaimed  the  de- 
sign of  Providence,  that  we  should  be  a  commercial  People.  I  agree  with 
him.  We  difler  only  as  to  the  means.  He  would  cherish  the  loreign,  and 
neglect  the  internal  trade.  I  would  foster  both.  What  is  navigation  with- 
out ships,  or  ships  without  cargoes?  By  penetrating  the  bosoms  of  our  moun- 
tains, and  extracting  from  them  their  precious  treasures;  by  cultivating  the 
earth,  and  securing  a  home  market  for  its  rich  and  abundant  products;  by 
employing  the  water  power  with  which  we  are  blessed;  by  stimulating  and 
protecting  our  native  industry,  in  all  its  forms;  we  shall  but  nourish  and  pro- 
mote the  prosperity  of  commer.ce,  foreign  and  domestic. 

I  have  hitherto  considered  the  question  in  reference  only  to  a  state  of 
peace;  but  a  season  of  war  ought  not  to  be  entirely  overlooked.  We  have 
enjoyed  near  twenty  years  of  peace;  but  who  can  tell  when  the  storm  of  war 
shall  again  break  forth?  Have  we  ibrgotten,  so  soon,  the  privations  to  which, 
not  merely  our  brave  soldiers  and  our  gallant  tars  were  subjected,  but  the 
whole  community,  during  the  last  war,  for  the  want  of  absolute  necessaries? 
To  what  an  enormous  price  they  rose?  And  how  inadequate  the  supply  was, 
at  any  price?  The  statesman,  who  justly  elevates  his  views,  will  look  behind, 
as  well  as  forward,  and  at  the  existing  state  of  things;  and  he  will  graduate 
the  policy,  which  he  recommends,  to  all  the  probable  exigencies  which  may 
arise  in  the  republic.  Taking  this  comprehensive  range,  it  would  be  easy  to 
show  that  the  higlier  prices  of  peace,  if  prices  were  nighcr  in  peace,  were 
more  than  compensated  by  the  lower  prices  of  war,  during  which  supplies  of 


s» 


'  I 


ill! 


^■1:1 


i 


.#• 


ir!: 


80 

all  essential  articles  are  indiHpcnHnble  to  itn  vigorous,  cfl'cctual,  and  glorious 

Krosecution.    I  conclude  this  part  of  the  argument  with  the  hope  tnat  my 
umble  exertions  have  not  been  altogether  unsuccessful  in  showing — 

1.  That  the  policy  which  wo  have  been  considering  ought  to  continue  to 
be  regarded  as  the  genuine  American  Hystem. 

2.  'fhat  the  free  tratle  svstem,  which  is  proposed  as  its  substitute,  ought 
really  to  be  considered  as  the  British  colonial  system. 

3.  That  the  American  system  is  beneficial  to  all  parts  of  the  Union,  and 
absolutely  necessary  to  much  the  larger  portion. 

4.  That  the  price  of  the  great  staple  ol  cotton,  and  of  all  our  chief  produc- 
tions of  agriculture,  has  been  sustained  and  upheld,  and  a  decline  averted  by 
the  protective  system. 

5.  Tliat,  if  the  foreign  demand  for  cotton  has  been  at  all  diminished,  by  the 
operation  of  that  system,  the  diminufion  has  been  more  than  compensated  iji 
the  additional  demand  created  at  home. 

6.  That  the  constant  tendency  of  the  system,  by  creating  competition  among 
ourselves,  and  between  American  and  huropjt-an  industiy,  reciprocally  acting 
upon  each  other,  is  to  reduce  prices  of  manufactured  objects. 

7.  That,  in  point  of  fact,  objects  within  the  scopeof  the  policy  of  protection 
have  greatly  fallen  in  price. 

8.  That,  if,  in  a  season  of  peace,  these  benefits  are  experienced,  in  a  season 
of  warj  when  the  foreign  supply  might  be  cut  oft",  they  would  be  much  more 
extensively  felt. 

9.  And,  finally,  that  the  substitution  of  the  British  colonial  system  for  the 
American  System,  without  benefitting  any  secti(m  of  the  Union,  by  subjecting 
us  to  a  foreign  legislation,  regulated  by  foreign  interests,  would  lead  to  the 
prostration  of  our  manufactures,  /-•nerar  impoverishment,  and  ultimate  ruin. 

And  now,  Mr.  President,  I  have  to  make  a  few  observations  on  a  delicate 
subject,  which  I  approach  with  all  the  respect  that  is  due  to  its  serious  and 
grave  nature.    They  have  not,  indeed,  been  rendered  necessary  by  the  speech 
of  the  gentleman  from  South  Carolina,  whose  forbearance  to  notice  the  topic 
was  commendable,  as  his  argutncnt,  thioughout,  was  characterized  by  au 
ability  and  dignity  worthy  of  him,  and  of  the  Senate.    The  gentleman  made 
one  declaration,  which  might  possibly  be  misinterpreted,  and,  I  submit  to 
him,  whether  an  explanation  ol  it  be  n«)t  proper.    The  declaration,  as  re- 
ported in  his  printed  speech,  is,  "the  instinct  of  self  interest  might  have 
"  taught  us  an  easier  way  of  relieving  ourselves  from  this  oppression.  It  want- 
**  ed  but  the  will  to  have  supplied  ourselves  with  every  article  embraced  in 
"the  protective  system,  free  of  duty,  without  any  other  participation  on  our 
*'part  than  a  simple  consent  to  receive  them."    [Here  General  Hayne  rose, 
and  remarked  that  the  passages,  which  immediately  preceded  and  followed 
the  paragraph  cited,  he  thought,  plainly  indicated  his  meaning,  which  related 
to  evasions  of  the  system,  by  illicit  intioduction  of  goods,  which  they  were 
not  disposed  to  countenance  in  South  Carolina.]    I  am  happy  to  hear  tnis  ex- 
planation.   Bat,  sif,  it  is  impossible  to  conceal  from  our  view  the  facts  that 
there  is  great  excitement  in  South  Carolina;  that  the  protective  system  is 
openly  and  violently  denounced  in  popular  meetings;  and  that  the  Legisla- 
ture itself  has  declared  its  nuipose  of  resorting  to  counteracting  measures — a 
suspension  of  which  has  only  been  submitted  to,  for  the  purpose  of  allowing 
Congress  time  to  retrace  its  steps.    With  respect  to  this  Union,  Mr.  Presi- 
dent, the  truth  cannot  be  too  generally  proclaimed,  nor  too  strongly  inculcat- 
ed, that  it  is  necessary  to  the  whole  and  to  all  the  par/«— necessary  to  those 
parts,  indeed,  in  dift'erent  degrees,  but  vitally  necessary  to  each;  and  that 
threats  to  disturb  oi- dissolve  it,  coming  from  any  of  the  parts,  would  be  quite 
as  indiscreet  and  improper,  as  would  be  threats  from  the  residue  to  exci"de 
those  parts  from  the  pale  of  its  benefits.    The  great  principle,  which  'k-s  a*. 
the  foundation  of  all  free  (iovernment.  is,  that  the  majority  must  govern; 
from  which  there  is  or  can  be  no  appeal  but  to  the  sword.    That  majority 
ought  to  govern  wisely,  equitably,  moderately,  and  constitutionally,  but  go- 
vern it  must,  subject  only  to  that  terrible  appeal.    If  ever  one,  or  several 
States,  being  a  minority,  can,  by  menaoing  a  dissolution  of  the  Union,  suc- 
ceed in  forming  an  abandonment  of  great  measures,  deemed  essential  to  the 


t 


-r-.-STTSSIB 


nd  glorious 
pe  that  my 

continue  to 

tute,  ought 

Union,  and 

ief  produc- 
I  averted  by 

ihed,  by  the 
pensated  i{i 

ition  among 
ically  acting 

f  protection 

,  in  a  season 
much  more 

stem  for  the 
y  subjecting 
lead  to  the 
imate  ruin. 
)n  a  delicate 
serious  and 
y  the  speech 
ce  the  topic 
rized  by  au 
leman  made 
I  submit  to 
tion,  as  re- 
might  have 
)n.  It  want- 
imbraced  in 
ation  on  our 
Iavne  rose, 
id  followed 
hich  related 
tliey  were 
tiear  this  ex- 
le  facts  that 
system  is 
the  Legisla- 
neasures-;— a 
of  allowing 
Mr.  Presi- 
y  inculcat- 
aiy  to  those 
h;  and  that 
uld  be  quite 
to  excP'de 
vhich  '".ijs  a*, 
ust  govern; 
lat  majority 
illy,  but  go- 
,  or  several 
Union,  suc- 
cntial  to  the 


81 

interests  and  prosperity  of  the  whole,  the  Union,  from  that  moment,  in  prac- 
tically gone.  It  may  linger  on,  in  form  and  name,  but  its  vital  spirit  has  fled 
forever!  Entertaining  these  deliberate  opinions,  I  would  entreat  the  patriotic 
People  of  South  Carolina— the  land  of  Marion,  Sumpter,  and  Pickens — of 
Rutledge,  Laurens,  the  Pinckneys,  and  Lowndes— of  living  and  present 
names,  which  1  would  mention  if  they  were  not  living  or  present — to  pause, 
solemnly  pause!  and  contemplate  the  frightful  precipice  which  lies  directly 
before  them.  To  retreat  may  be  painful  and  mortifying  to  their  gallantry  and 
pride,  but  it  is  to  retreat  to  the  Union,  to  safety,  and  to  those  brethren,  with 
whom,  or  with  whose  ancestors,  they,  or  their  ancestors,  have  won,  on  fields 
of  glory,  imperishable  renown.  To  advance,  is  to  rush  on  certain  and  inevi- 
table (fisgrace  and  destruction. 

We  have  been  told  of  deserted  castles,  of  uninhabited  halls,  and  of  mansions, 
once  the  seats  of  opulence  and  hospitality,  now  abandoned  and  mouldering  in 
ruins.  I  never  had  the  honorof  being  in  South  Carolina;  but  I  have  heard  and  read 
of  the  stories  of  its  chivalry,  and  of  its  generous  and  open  hearted  liberality.  1 
have  heard,  too,  of  the  stru^^gles  for  power  between  the  lower  and  upper  country. 
The  same  causes  which  existed  in  Virginia,  with  which  I  have  been  acquainted, 
I  presume,  have  had  their  influence  in  Carolina.  In  whose  hands  now  are  the 
once  proud  seats  of  Westover,  Curl.  Maycox,  Shirley,*  and  others,  on  James 
river,  and  in  lower  Virginia?  Under  the  operation  of  laws,  abolishing  the 
principle  of  primogeniture,  and  providing  the  equitable  rule  of  an  equal  dis- 
tribution of  estates  among  those  in  equal  degree  of  consanguinity,  they  have 
f>assed  into  other  and  stranger  hands.  Some  of  the  descendants  of  illustrious 
amilies  have  gone  to  the  tar  West,  whilst  others,  lingering  behind,  have  con- 
trasted their  present  condition  with  that  of  their  venerateu  ancestors.  They 
behold  themselves  excluded  from  their  fathers'  houses,  now  in  the  hands  of 
those  who  were  once  their  fathers'  overseers,  or  sinking  into  decay;  their  iina- 

finations  paint  ancient  renown,  the  fading  honors  of  their  name,  glories  gone 
y;  too  poor  to  live,  too  proud  to  work,  too  high-minded  and  honorable  to  re- 
sort to  ignoble  means  of  acquisition,  brave,  daring,  chivalrous,  tvhat  can  be 
the  cause  of  their  present  unhappy  state?  The  "accursed"  tarift'presents  it- 
self to  their  excited  imaginations,  and  they  blindly  rush  into  the  ranks  of 
those  who,  unfurling  the  banner  of  nullification,  would  place  a  State  upon  its 
sovereignty! 

The  danger  to  our  Union  does  not  lie  on  the  side  of  persistence  in  the  Ame- 
rican System,  but  on  that  of  its  abandonment    If,  as  I  have  supposed  and  be- 
lieve, the  inhabitantsof  all  North  and  East  of  James  river,  and  all  West  of  the 
mountains,  including  Louisiana,  are  deeply  interested  in  the  preservation  of 
that  System,  would  they  be  reconciled  to  its  overthrow?    Can  it  be  expected 
that  two-thirds,  if  not  three-fourths,  of  the  People  of  the  United  States  would 
consent  to  the  destruction  of  a  policy,  believed  to  be  indispensably  necessary 
to  their  prosperity?  When,  too,  this  sacrifice  is  made,  at  the  instance  of  a  sin- 
gle interest,  which  they  verily  believe  will  not  be  promoted  by  it?  In  estimat- 
ing the  degree  of  peril  which  may  be  incident  to  two  opposite  courses  of  liu- 
man  policy,  the  statesman  would  be  short-sighted  who  should  content  himself 
with  viewing  only  the  evils,  real  or  imaginary,  which  belong  to  that  course  which 
is  in  practical  operation.    He  should  lift  himself  up  to  the  contemplation  of 
those  greater  and  more  certain  dangers  which  might  inevitably  attend  the 
adoption  of  the  alternative  course.     What  would  be  the  condition  of  this 
Union,  if  Pennsylvania,  and  New  York,  those  mammoth  membeis  of  our 
confederacy,  were  firmly  persuaded  that  their  industry  was  paralysed,  and 
their  prosperity  blighted,  by  the  enforcement  of  the  Jiritish  Colonial  Sys- 
tem, under  the  delusive  name  of  free  trade?  They  are  now  tranquil,  and  hap- 
py, and  contented,  conscious  of  their  welfare,  and  feeling  a  salutary  and  rapid 
circulation  of  tlie  products  of  home  manufactures  and  home  industry  through- 
out all  their  great  arteries.     But  let  that  be  checked,  let  them  feel  that  a  fo- 
reign system  is  to  predominate,  and  the  sources  of'their  subsistence  and  com- 
fort dried  up;  let  New  England  and  the  West,  and  the  Middle  States,  all  feel 

•  As  to  Shirley,  Mr.  Clay  acknowledges  his  mistake,  made  in  the  warmth  of  debate. 
It  is  yet  the  abode  of  the  respectable  and  hospitable  descendants  of  its  former  opulent 
proprietor. 


i 


^' !'!  ! 


82 

that  they  too  are  the  victims  of  a  mistaken  policy,  and  let  thew  vast  portions 
of  our  country  despair  of  any  favorable  clumge,  and  then,  indeed,  might  we 
tremble  for  (he  continuance  and  safety  of  this  Union! 

And  need  I  remind  you,  sir,  that  this  dereliction  of  the  duty  of  protecting 
our  domestic  industry,  and  abandonment  of  it  to  the  fiite  of  foreign  legisla- 
tion, would  be  directly  at  war  with  leading  considerations  which  prompted  the 
ad(>pti(m  of  the  present  constitution?  The  States,  respectively,  surrendered 
to  the  General  Government  the  whole  power  of  laying  imposts  on  foreign  goods. 
Tlicy  stripped  themselves  of  all  power  to  protect  their  own  manufactures,  by 
the  most  efficacious  means  of  encouragement — the  imposition  of  duties  on  ri- 
val foreign  fabrics.  Did  they  create  that  great  trustr  Did  they  voluntari- 
ly subject  themselves  to  this  self-restriction,  that  the  power  should  remain  in 
the  Federal  Government,  inactive,  unexecuted,  and  lifeless?  Mr.  Madison, 
at  the  commencement  of  the  Government,  told  you  otherwise.  In  discussing, 
at  that  early  period,  this  very  subject,  he  declared  that  a  failure  to  exercise 
this  power  would  be  a  "/rawr'  upon  the  Northern  States,  to  which  may  now 
be  added  the  Middle  and  Western  States. 

[Governor  Miller  asked  to  what  expression  of  Mr.  Madison's  opinion  Mr. 
Clay  referred}  and  Mr.  C.  replied.  Ins  opinion,  expressed  in  the  House  of 
Representatives,  '.\i  1789,  as  reported  in  Lloyd's  Congressional  Debates.] 

Gentlemen  are  greatly  deceived  as  to  the  hold  which  this  system  has  in  the 
aftections  of  the  Pet)ple  of  the  United  States.  They  represent  that  it  is  the 
policy  of  New  England,  and  that  she  is  most  benefitted  by  it.  If  there  be 
any  part  of  this  Union  which  has  been  most  steady,  most  unanimous,  and 
most  determined  in  its  support,  it  is  Pennsylvania.  Why  is  not  that  power- 
ful State  attacked?  Why  pass  her  over,  and  aim  the  blow  at  New  England  ? 
New  England  came,  reluctantly,  into  the  policy.  In  1824  a  majority  of  her 
delegation  was  opposed  to  it.  From  the  laige'^t  State  of  New  England  there 
was  but  a  solitary  vote  in  favor  of  the  bill.  That  enterprising  People  can  rea- 
dily accommodate  their  industry  to  any  policy,  provided,  it  be  settled.  They 
supposed  this  was  fixed,  and  they  submitted  to  the  decrees  of  Government. 
And  the  progress  of  public  opinion  has  kept  pace  with  the  development  of 
the  benefits  of  the  system.  Now,  all  New  England,  at  least  in  this  House, 
(with  the  exception  of  one  small,  still  voice)  is  in  favor  of  the  system.  In 
1824  rJI  Maryland  was  against  itj  now,  the  majority  is  for  it.  Then,  Louisi- 
ana, with  one  exception,  was  opposed  to  it;  now,  without  any  exception,  she  is 
in  favor  of  it.  The  march  of  public  sentiment  is  to  the  South.  Virginia  will 
be  the  next  convert;  and,  in  less  than  seven  years,  if  there  be  no  obstacles  from 
political  causes,  or  prejudices  industriously  instilled,  the  majority  of  Eastern 
Virginia  will  be,  as  the  majority  of  Western  Virginia  now  is,  in  favor  of  the 
American  System.  North  'Carolina  will  follow  later,  but  not  less  certainly. 
Eastern  Tennessee  is  now  in  favor  of  the  system.  And,  finally,  its  doctrines 
will  pervade  the  whole  Union,  and  the  wonder  will  be,  that  they  ever  should 
have  been  opposed. 

I  have  now  to  proceed  to  notice  some  objections  which  have  been  urged 
against  the  resolution  under  consideration.  With  respect  to  the  amendment, 
which  the  gentleman  from  South  Carolina  had  ottered,  as  he  has  intimated  his 
purpose  to  modify  it,  I  shall  forbear,  for  the  present,  to  comment  upon  it- 
It  is  contended  that  the  resolution  proposes  the  repeal  of  duties  on  luxuries, 
leaving  those  on  necessaries  to  remain,  and  that  it  will,  therefore,  relieve 
the  ricn,  without  lessening  the  burthens  of  the  poor.  And  the  gentleman  from 
South  Carolina  has  caretuily  selected,  for  ludicrous  effect,  a  number  of  the 
unprotected  articles,  cosmetics,  perfumes,  oranges,  &c.  I  must  say,  that 
this  exhibition  of  the  gentleman  is  not  in  keeping  with  the  candor  which  he 
has  generally  displayed:  that  he  knows  very  well  that  the  duties  upon  these 
articles  are  trifling,  and  that  it  is  of  little  consequence  whether  they  are  re- 
pealed or  retained.  Both  systems,  the  American  and  the  foreign,  compre- 
hend some  articles  which  may  be  deemed  luxuries.  The  Senate  knows  that 
the  unprotected  articles  which  yield  the  principal  part  of  the  revenue,  with 
which  this  measure  would  dispense,  are  coffee,  tea,  spices,  wines,  and  silks. 
Of  all  these  articles,  wines  and  silks  alone  can  be  pronounced  to  be  luxuries; 


ist  portions 
,  might  we 

'  protecting 
iign  legisla- 
ompted  the 
urrcnclered 
leigii  goods, 
actures,  by 
luties  on  n- 
voluntari- 
d  remain  in 
r.  Madison, 
discussing, 
:  to  exercise 
ch  may  now 

opinion  Mr. 
ic  House  of 
cbates.] 
im  has  in  the 
at  it  is  the 
If  there  be 
nimous,  and 
that  power- 
w  England  } 
jority  of  her 
igland  there 
>nle  can  rea- 
'tled.    They 
iovernment. 
elopment  of 
this  House, 
system.    In 
lien,  Louisi- 
ption,she  is 
\^irginiawill 
istacles  from 
of  Eastern 
avor  of  the 
_  certainly, 
its  doctrines 
ever  should 

been  urged 

imendment, 

ti mated  his 

jnt  upon  it- 

)n  luxuries, 

ore,  relieve 

tleman  from 

fnber  of  the 

say,  that 

which  he 

upon  these 

hey  are  re- 

n,  compre- 

knows  that 

enue,  with 

,  and  silks. 

e  luxuries; 


r 


\ 


as 

And,  as  to  wines,  we  have  already  ratified  a  (rcaly,  not  yet  prouiul^a(r(l,  by 
which  the  duties  on  them  arc  to  be  coiisi«it*rably  reduced.  It  the  universality 
of  the  use  of  objects  of  consumption  determines  their  classification,  coflee,  tea, 
and  spices,  in  the  present  condition  of  civilized  society,  may  be  considered 
necessaries.  Even  if  they  were  luxuries,  why  should  not  the  poor,  by  cheap- 
ening their  prices,  it  that  can  be  elfected,  be  allowed  to  use  them?  Why 
should  not  a  poor  man  be  allowed  to  tie  a  silk  handkerchief  on  his  neck,  oc- 
casionally regale  himself  witli  a  glass  of  cheap  French  wine,  or  present  his 
wife  or  daughter  with  a  silk  gown,  to  be  worn  on  Sabbath  or  gala  days  r  I  am 
quite  sure  that  I  do  not  misconstrue  the  feelings  of  the  gentleman's  heart,  in 
supposing  that  he  would  be  happv  to  see  the  puor,  as  well  as  the  rich,  mode- 
ratelv  iiululging  themselves  in  tuese  innocent  gratifications.  For  one,  I  am 
delighted  to  see  the  condition  of  the  poor  attracting  the  consideration  of  the 
opponents  of  the  tarit!'.  It  is  for  the  great  body  of  the  People,  and  especially 
for  the  poor,  that  I  have  ever  supported  the  American  System.  It  attbrtfs 
them  protitable  emplovmeot,  and  supplies  the  means  of  comfortable  subsist- 
ence. It  secures  to  them,  certainly,  nece<isaries  of  life,  manufactured  at 
home,  and  places  within  their  reach,  and  enables  them  to  acquire,  a  reasona- 
ble share  ot  foreign  luxuries;  whilst  the  system  of  gentlemen,  promtjtcs  theui 
necessaries  made  m  foreign  countries,  and  which  are  beyond  their  power,  and 
rlcnics  to  them  luxuries,  which  they  would  possess  tm  means  to  purchase. 

The  constant  complaint  of  South  Carolina  against  the  taritV,  is,  thai  it  checks 
importations,  antl  disables  foreign  Powers  froin  purchasing  the  agricultural 
productions  of  the  United  States.  The  crt'ect  of  the  resolution  will  bo  to  in- 
crease importations,  not  so  much,  it  is  true,  from  Great  Britain,  as  from 
other  Powers,  but  not  the  less  acceptable  on  that  account.  It  is  a  misfortune 
that  80  large  a  portion  of  our  foreign  commerce  concentrates  in  one  nation; 
it  subjects  us  too  much  to  the  legislation  and  the  policy  of  that  nation,  and 
exposes  us  to  the  intluence  of  her  numerous  agents,  factors,  and  merchants. 
And  it  is  not  among  the  smallest  recommendations  of  the  measure  before  the 
Senate,  that  its  tendency  will  be  to  expand  our  commerce  with  France,  our 
great  Revolutionary  ally—the  land  of  our  Lafayette.  There  is  much  greater 
probability,  also,  of  an  enlargement  of  the  present  demand  for  cotton,  in 
France,  than  in  Great  Britain.  France  engaged  later  in  the  manufacture  of 
cotton,  and  has  made,  therefore,  less  progress.  She  has.  moreover,  no  colo- 
nies producing  the  article  in  abundance,  whose  industry  she  might  be  tempted 
to  encourage. 

The  honorable  gentleman  from  Maryland,  (General  Smith)  by  his  reply  to 
a  speech  which,  on  the  opening  of  the  subject  of  this  resolution,  I  had  occa- 
sion to  make,  has  rendered  it  necessary  that  I  should  take  some  notice  of  his 
observations-  The  honorable  gentleman  stated  that  he  had  been  accused  of 
partiality  to  the  manufacturing  interest.  Never  was  there  a  more  grountlless 
and  malicious  charge  preferred  against  a  calumniated  man.  ,  Since  this  ques- 
tion has  been  iigitatedin  tlie  public  councils,  although  I  have  often  heard  from 
him  professions  of  attachment  to  this  branch  of  industry,  I  have  never  known 
any  member  a  more  uniform,  determined,  and  uncompromising  opponent  ot 
them,  than  the  honorable  Senator  has  invariably  been.  And  if,  hereafter,  the 
calumny'should  be'repeated,  of  his  friendship  to  the  American  System,  I  shall 
be  ready  to  furnish  to  him,  in  thQ  most  solemn  manner,  my  testimony  to  his 
innocence.  The  honorable  gentleman  supposed  that  I  had  advanced  the  idea 
tliat  the  permanent  revenue  of  this  country  should  be  tixcJ  at  eighteen  mil- 
lions of  dollars.  Certainly  I  had  no  intention  to  announce  such  an  opinion, 
nor  do  my  expressions,  fairly  interpreted,  imply  it.  I  stated,  on  the  occasion 
referred  to,  that,  estimating  the  ordinary  revenue  of  the  country  at  twenty-five 
millions,  and  the  amount  of  the  duties  on  the  Mnprotectcd  articles  proposed 
to  be  repealed  by  the  resolution,  at  seven  millions,  the  latter-  sum  taken  from 
the  former  would  leave  eighteen.  But  I  did  not  intimate  any  belief  that  the 
revenue  of  the  country  ought,  for  the  future,  to  be  permanently  fixed  at  that 
or  any  other  precise  sum.  I  stated  that,  after  having  effected  so  great  a  re- 
duction, we  might  pause,  cautiously  survey  the  whole  ground,  and  deliber- 
ately determine  upon  other  measures  of  reduction,  some  of  which  I  indicated. 
And  I  now  say,  preserve  the  protective  system  in  full  vigor,  give  us  the  pro- 
3 


:  I:i 


"i 


i-* 


34 

re  pels  of  the  public  domain  for  inteiiial  iinproyeitienifl,  or,  if  you  pleavf ,  partly 
for  that  object  and  partly  for  the  removal  of  the  free  blacks,  with  their  own 
consent,  from  tlic  United  States;  and,  for  one,  1  have  no  objection  to  the  re 
duction  of  the  public  revenue  to  tittccn,  to  thirteen,  or  even  to  nino  millions 
of  dollars. 

In  regard  to  the  schrmo  of  the  vSecretary  of  the  Treasury  for  paving  olTthc 
whole  ot'the  remaining  public  debt,  by  the  4th  day  of  March,  1833,  including; 
the  three  per  cent.,  and,  for  that  piirpoise.  Hulling  the  bank  stocky  I  had  re- 
marked that  J  with  the  exception  ol  the  three  per  cent.,  there  was  not  mor»* 
than  about  tour  millions  of  dollars  of  the  debt  due  ami  payable  within  this 
year;  that,  to  meet  this,  the  {Secretary  had  stated,  in  his  annual  report,  that 
the  '['reasury  would  have,  from  the  receipts  of  thid  year,  fourteen  millions  ol 
dollarn,  ^)plicable  to  the  principal  of  the  debt;  that  I  did  not  perceive  any 
urgency  for  paying  oft" the  thret^  per  cent.  I)y  the  precise  day  suggested;  ami 
that  there  was  no  necessity,  according  to  the  plans  of  the  Tretisury,  assuming 
them  to  be  expedient  and  pioper,  to  postpone  the  reptial  of  the  duties  on  un- 
protected articles.  The  gentleman  h<mi  Maiyland  imputed  to  n\e  ignorancr 
oi"  the  act  of  the  S4th  April.  1830.  according  to  which,  in  his  (»pinion,  the  Sec- 
retary was  obliged  to  purchase  the  three  per  cent.  On  what  ground  the  Se- 
nator supposed  1  was  ignorant  of  that  act,  he  has  not  stated.  Although,  when 
it  passeJ,  \  was  at  Asluand,  I  assure  him  that  I  was  not  there  altogether  un 
informed  of  what  was  passing  in  the  world.  I  regularly  received  the  Register 
of  my  excellent  friend  (Mr.  Niles)  published  in  Baltimore,  the  National  In- 
telligencer, and  oiher  papers.  There  arc  two  errors  to  which  gentlemen  are 
sometimes  liable;  one  is  to  magnify  the  amount  of  knowledge  wnich  they  pos- 
sess themselves,  and  the  second  is  to  depreciate  that  which  others  hav«  n'- 
quired.  And  will  the  gentleman  from  Maryland  excuse  me  for  thinking  that, 
no  man  is  more  prone  to  commit  both  errors  than  himmdfr  I  will  not  sav  thdi 
he  is  ignorant  of  the  true  meaning  of  the  act  of  1830,  but  1  certainly  place  a 
difterent  construction  upon  it  from  what  he  does.  It  does  not  oblige  the  Se 
crctary  of  the  Treasury,  or  rather  the  Commissioners  of  the  Sinking  Fund,  to 
apply  the  surplus  of  any  year  to  the  purchased  of  the  three  per  cent  stock  par- 
ticularly, but  leaves  them  at  liberty  '*  to  apply  such  surplus  to  the  purchase  of 
any  portion  of  the  public  debt,  at  such  rates  as,  in  their  opinion,  may  be  ad- 
vantageous to  the  United  States."  This  ventu  a  discretionary  authority,  to 
be  exercised  under  officiaLresponsibility.    And  if  any  Secretary  of  the  Trea- 


sury, when  he  had  the  option  of  purchasing  a  portion  of  the  Tebt,  bearing  a 
higher  rate  of  interest,  at  par  or  about  par,  were  to  execute  the  act  by  pur- 
chasing the  three  per  cent,  at  its  present  price,  he  would  merit  impeachment. 
Undoubtedly  a  state  of  fact. may  exist,  such  as  there  VK»ing  no  public  debt  re- 
maining to  be  paid  but  tJie  three,  oer  cent,  stock,  with  a  surplus  in  the  Trea- 
sury, idle  and  unpi-oductive,  in  which  it  might  be  expedient  to  apply  that  sur- 
plus to  the  reimbursement  of  the  three  per  rents.  Kui,  whilst  the  interest  of 
money  is  at  a  greater  rate  than  three  per  cent,  it  would  not,  1  think,  be  wise 
to  produce  an  accumulation  of  public  treasure  for  such  a  purpose.    The  post 

Eonement  of  any  reduction  of  the  amount  of  the  revenue,  at  this  session,' must 
owever  give  rise  to  that  very  accumulation;  and  it  is,  therefore,  that  I  can 
not  perceive  the  utility  of  the  postponement. 

We  are  told  by  the  gentleman  from  Matyland,  that  oft'ers  have  been  made 
to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  exchange  three  per  cents,  at  their  market 
price  of  96  per  cent,  for  the  bank  stock  of  the.  Government  at  its  market  price, 
which  is  about  126;  and  he  thinks  it  would  be  wise  to  accept  them.  If  the 
charter  of  the  bank  is  renewed,  that  stock  will  be  probablv  worth  much  more 
than  its  present  price;  if  not  renewed,  much  less.  Would  it  be  fair  in  Go> 
vernment,  whilst  the  question  is  pending  and  undecided,  to  make  such  an  ex- 
change." The  difference  in  value  between  a  stock  bearing  three  per  cent,  and 
one  bearing  seven  per  cent.,  must  be  really  much  greater  than  the  difterence 
between  96  and  126  percent.  Supposing  them  to  be  perpetual  annuities,  the 
one  would  be  worth  more  than  twice  the  value  of  the  other.  But  my  Direc- 
tion to  the  Treasury  plan  is,  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  execute  it — to  continue 
tliese  duties,  as  the  Secretary  proposes.  The  Secretary  has  a  debt  of  twenty- 
four  millions  to  pajT;  lie  has,  from  the  accruing  receipt)  of  this  year,  fourteen 


hii 


)B>l:. 


Iileasp,  partly 

irith  their  own 

lion  toth«  re- 

nino  niillions 

p:iying  off  the 
433,  including 
uckt  I  had  re- 
tvaH  not  more 
le  within  thi^ 
I  report,  that 
!cn  millions  ol 
perceive  any 
uggested;  and 
ury,  asHUining 
duties  on  un- 
n»e  ignorancr 
inion,thcScc- 
(round  the  Se- 
Jthough,  when 
altogether  un 
lid  the  RegiHtci 
e  National  In- 
gentlemen  are 
ifhich  they  pos- 
(thcrs  have  rt- 
r  thinking  thut 
ill  not  say  tiuv 
rtainly  place  a 
oblige  the  Sie 
r>king  Fund,  to 
ent  stock  par- 
the  purchase  oi 
on,  may  be  ad- 
i/  authority,  to 
y  of  the  Trea- 
ebt,  bearing  a 
the  act  by  pur- 
impeachment, 
public  debt  re- 
IS  in  the  Trea- 
apply  that  sur- 
tne  interest  ot 
think,  be  wise 
8c.    The  post 
s  session,'  must 
trc,  that  I  can 

ive  been  made 
,t  their  market 

market  price, 
them.  If  the 
•th  much  more 
be  fair  in  Go^ 
ike  such  an  cx- 
;  per  cent,  and 

trie  difference 
annuities,  the 

iut  my  oDJec- 
.: — to  continue 
iebt  of  twenty 
lyear,  fourtceri 


millions,  and  we  are  now  told  by  the  Senator  from  Maryland,  that  thiH  !«iiiTt 
of  fourteen  millions  is  exclusive  of  any  of  the  duties  accruing  this  year.  Ili 
proposes  to  raise  eight  millions  by  a  sale  of  the  bank  stock,  and  to  anlicipaU-, 
from  the  revenues  receivable  next  year,  two  millions  more.  These  three  items, 
then,  of  fourteen  millions,  eight  millions,  and  two  millions,  make  up  the  8uin 
required,  of  twenty -four  millions,  without  the  aid  of  the  duties  to  which  the 
resolution  relates. 

The  gentlemari  from  Maryland  insists  that  the  General  Government  has 
been  liberal  towards  the  West  in  its  appropriations  of  public  lands  for  internal 
improvements;  and,  as  to  fortifications,  ne  contends  that  the  expenditures 
near  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  are  for  its  especial  benefit.  The  appropria- 
tions of  land  to  the  States  of  Ohio.  Indiana,  llhnois,  and  Alabama,  have  been 
liberal;  but  it  is  not  to  be  overlooked,  that  the  General  Government  is  itself 
the  greatest  proprietor  of  land,  and  that  a  tendency  of  the|improvement8.  which 
these  appropriations  were  to  effect,  is  to  increase  the  value  of  the  unsold  pub- 
lic domain.  The  erection  of  the  fortifications  lor  the  defence  of  Louisiana  was 
highly  proper;  but  the  gentleman  might  as  well  place  to  the  account  of  the 
\\«'st.  the  disbursements  for  the  fortifications  intended  to  defend  Baltimore, 
Philadelphia,  and  New  York,  to  all  which  capitals  Western  produce  is  sent, 
and,  in  the  security  of  all  of  which,  the  Western  People  feel  a  lively  interest. 
They  do  not  object  to  expenditures  for  the  army,  for  the  navy,  for  fortifications, 
or  for  any  other  defensive  or  commercial  object  on  the  Atlantic,  but  they 
do  think  that  tlieir  condition  ou"ht  also  to  receive  friendly  attention  from 
the  (ieneral  Government.  With  respect  to  the  State  of  Kentucky,  not  one 
« ent  of  money,  or  one  acre  of  land,  has  been  applied  to  any  object  of  internal 
improvement  within  her  limits.  The  subscription  to  the  stock  of  the  canal  at 
Louisville  was  for  an  pbject  in  which  many  States  were  interested.  The 
Senator  from  Maryland  complains  that  he  has  been  unable  to  obtain  any  aid 
for  the  rail  road  which  the  enterprise  of  Baltimore  has  projected,  and,  in  part, 
executed.  That  was  a  great  work,  the  conception  of  which  was  bold  and 
highly  honorable,  and  it  deserves  national  encouragement.  But  how  has  the 
Committee  of  Roads  and  Canals,  at  this  session,  been  constituted?  The  Se- 
nator from  Maryland  possessed  a  brief  authority  lo  organize  it,  and.  if  I  am 
not  misinformed,  a  majority  of  the  members  composing  it.  appointed  by  hirn. 
are  opposed  both  to  the  constitutionality  of  the  power  and  the  expediency  of 
exercising  it. 

And  now,  sir,  I  would  address  a  few  words  to  the  friends  of  the  American 
System  in  the  Senate.  The  revenue  must^  ought  to  be  reduced.  The  coun- 
fiy  will  not,  after,  by  the  payment  of  the  public  debt,  ten  or  twelve  milljons 
01  dollars  become  unnecessary,  bear  such  an  annual  surplus.  Its  distribu- 
tion would  form  a  subject  ot  perpetual  contention.  Some  of  the  opponents 
of  the  System  understand  the  stratagem  by  which  to  attack  it,  and  are  shap- 
ing their  course  accordingly.  It  is  to  crush  the  System  by  the  accumulation 
of  revenue,  and  by  the  effort  to  persuade  the  People  that  they  are  unnecos- 
aarily  taxea^  whilst  those  would  really  tax  them  who  would  break  up  the 
native  sources  of  supply  and  render  them  dependent  upon  the  foreign. 
But  the  revenue  ought  to  be  reduced,  so  as  to  accommodate  it  to  the  fact  of 
the  payment  of  the  public  debt.  And  the  alternative  is  or  may  be,  to  preserve. 
the  protecting  system,  and  repeal  the  duties  on  the  unprotected  articles,  or  to 

§  reserve  the  duties  on  unprotected  articles,  and  endanger,  if  not  destroy^  the 
vstem.  Let  us  then  adopt  the  measure  before  us,  which  will  benefit  all 
classes:  the  farmer,  the  professional  man,  the  merchant,  the  manufacturer, 
tht!  mechanic;  and  the  cotton  planter  more  than  all.  A  few  months  ago,  there 
was  no  diversity  of  opinion  as  to  the  expediency  of  tliis  measure.  All,  then, 
seemed  to  unite  in  the  selection  of  these  objects,  for  a  repeal  of  duties  which 
were  not  produced  within  the  country.  Such  a  repeal  did  not  touch  our  do- 
imestic  industry,  violated  no  principle,  offended  no  prejudice. 

Can  we  not  all,  whatever  may  be  our  favorite  theories,  coitlially  unite  on 
this  neutral  ground?  When  that  is  occupied,  let  us  look  beyond  it,  and  see 
if  any  thin^  can  be  done,  in  the  field  of  protection,  to  modify,  to  improve  it, 
or  to  satisfy  those  who  are  opposed  to  the  System.  Our  Southern  brethren 
believe  that  it  is  iiijurious  to  tnem,  and  ask  itslrepeal.    We  believe  that  its 


i\|i'! 


r  I 


I 


36  . 

almndonmMit  will  be  projuiliral  to  them,  and  ruinous  to  every  oilier  section  of 
the  IJnion.  However  Ktrotij;  their  convirtioui*  may  lie,  they  are  not  Ntronxcr 
than  ourH.  Betw#en  the  pomts  of  the  pi-e»ervatior  '»f  the  HyHtem  ami  its  ab 
Holute  repeal,  there  is  no  prinriplc  of  union.  It  n  can  be  ahowrrio  operate 
immoderately  on  any  quarter;  if  (he  meaouro  of  protection  to  any  article  can 
be  demonstrated  ^o  be  undue  and  inordinate,  it  would  be  the  dutyof  Congresi 
to  interpose  and  apply  a  remedy.  And  none  will  co-operate  more  heartily 
than  I  snail,  in  the  performance  of  that  duty.  It  is  quite  probable  that  bene- 
ficial modihcations  of  the  System  may  be  made,  without  impairing  its  effica- 
cy. But,  to  make  it  fulfil  the  purposes  of  its  institution,  the  measure  of 
protection  ought  to  be  adequate.  If  it  be  not,  all  interests  will  be  injuriously 
affected.  The  manufacturer,  crippled  in  his  exertions,  will  produce  less  per- 
fect and  dearer  fabrics,  and  the  consumer  will  feel  the  consequence.  This  is 
the  spirit,  and  these  are  the  principles  only,  on  which,  it  seems  to  me,  that  a 
settlement  of  thit  great  question  can  be  made,  satisfactorily  to  all  parts  of  our 
Union. 

APPEIVDIX. 

A. 

.i  view  of  the  Tonnage  of/ the  United  Slates  from  1816  /o  1829. 


Years. 

Registered. 

Enrolled  and  liceaaed. 

ToUl. 

1815 

864,204.74 

613,833.04 

1,368,127.78 

1816 

800,769.63 

671,458.85 

1,372,218.53 

1817 

809,724.70 

590,186.66 

1,399,911.41 

1818 

606,088.64 

609,095.61 

1,225,184.20 

1819 

612,930.44 

647,821.17 

1,260,751.60 

1820 

619,047.63 

661,118.66 

1,280,166.24 

1821 

619,096.40 

679,062.30 

1,298,068,70 

1822 

628,160.41 

696,648.71 

1,324,699.17 

1823 

630,920.76 

696,644.87 

1,336,565.68 

1884 

669,972.60 

719,190.37 

1,389,163.02 

1836 

700,787.08 

722,323.69 

1,428,111.77 

1826 

737,978. 15 

706,212.68 

1,534,190.83 

1SS7 

747,170.44 

873,437.34 

1,620,607.78 

18M 

812,619.39 

928,772.50 

1,741,391.87 

1839 

841,406.16 

976.994.41 

1,818,490.57 

As  the  tonnage  account  was  corrected  at  the  treasury  in  1829,  the  following  deduc- 
tions are  to  be  made  from  that  year: 

Registered  tonnage  sold  to  foreigners  for  1829,  14,093.22 

Do.  do.     lost  at  sea,  .  17,692.83 

Do.  do.     condemned  as  unseaworthy,  .  11,464.70 

Corrections  by  striking  from  the  balance  of  outstanding 
tonnage,  vessels  sold  to  foreigners,  lost,  and  con- 
demned in  previous  years,  and  heretofore  credited,  156,315.74 
Enrolled  and  licensed  tonnage  arising  from  the  same 
cause,            ...... 


Add  to  this  the  actual  tonnage, 
The  apparent  tonnage,  as  above. 


358,136.12 

657,692.71 
1,260,797.81 

1,818,490.67 


i 


ft 


As  there  are  no  data  to  ascertiun  when  the  correction  thould  have  been  made,  the  only 
mode  of  showing  the  comparative  amount  of  tonnagq^  or  rather  tlis  gradual  increase 


I 


*r  section  of 
lint  HtronKcr 
I  and  its  ab 
;rto  operate 
'  article  can 
of  Congress 
tore  lieartily 
e  that  bene- 
ng  its  efficn- 
ineasure  of 
e  injuriously 
Lice  less  per- 
ce.    This  is 

0  me,  that  a 

1  parts  of  our 


19. 


ToUl. 


i 


J68, 127.78 
)72,ai8.53 
}90,911.'ll 
225,184.20 
260,761.60 
^80,166.24 
198,958,70 
324,699.17 
336,565.68 
389,163.02 
128,111.77 
534,190.83 
820,607.78 
741,391.87 
Rl  8,490.57 


>llowing  deduc- 

t,093.22 
7,692.83 
1,464.70 


6,315.74 

8,136.12 

7,692.71 
0,797.8'. 

8,490.67 

made,  the  only 
lual  incr^ise 


87 

between  1816  and  1899,  it  by  continuing  the  error  to  1839,  which  had  been  included 
in  the  preceding  yean. 

Rut  we  want  the  rctumB  of  1830  and  1831,  to  exhibit  the  prosperous  state  of  the 
coasting  trade,  during  which  periods  it  has  rapidly  advanced,  and  during  the  year  1831, 
more  vessels  for  the  foreign  and  coasting  trade  have  been  built,  than  in  any  year 
lince  the  adoption  of  the  conetilufion- 

This  great  change  has  been  eH'ected  in  the  coasting  trade,  by  the  extension  of  manu- 
factories, viz.  ships  and  brigs  huve  been  required,  instead  of  schooners  and  sloops,  to 
transport  cotton,  rice,  tobacco,  flour,  and  the  other  great  staples  of  agricultural  indus- 
try, from  the  Southern  to  the  Middle  and  Northern  States,  and  to  convey  the  products 
of  manufacturing  and  mechanical  industry  of  the  latter  to  the  former.*  The  freight 
paid  for  cotton  irom  New  Orlrann  to  Boston,  the  last  vear,  1831,  for  the  supply  of  the 
factories  of  Lowell,  only,  was  o\  r  62,000  dollars.  The  number  of  vessels  employed, 
including  the  repeated  voyages,  which  entered  into  and  departed  from  each  State 
and  territory  during  the  year  1830,  was  4,745;  whose  tonnage  entered  was  96.'i,227, 
and  the  departed  071,760,  employing  43,756  seamen.  This  can  only  include  such 
vessels  as  are  actually  required  to  enter  and  clear  at  the  custom  houses;  therefore,  docs 
no*,  present  more  than  /mZ/'that  trade, 

B. 

Chronological  Table  of  the  values  of  Real  Estate  in  the  city  of  New  York,  during  two 
commercial  periods,  of  seven  years  each. 


1st  Period. — Foreign  Commerce,  regulated  by  the  Tariff  of  1816. 


1817,  Real  estate,  assessed  at 


1818, 

1819, 

1820, 

1821, 

1822. 

1823, 

1824, 

|67,709,4S& 
69,846,186 
60,490,446 
62,063,858 
60,619,820 
53,331,674 
60,184,229 
62,019,730 


168,425,396 
64,803,060 
72,617,770 
77,139,880 
76,835,680 
87,603,680 
96,716,486 


Decrease  in  seven  years,  $6,779,706 

2d  Period. — Internal  Commerce  with  the  Western  States. 

1826,  (Erie  Canal  finished)  • 

1826,  "  •'  .  . 

1827,  .«  «  .... 

1828,  ••  "  -  '  • 

1829,  ««  ««  -  -  -  . 

1830,  (Part  ofthe  Ohio  Canal  finished) 
1881,         •«  <«  .... 

Increase  in  seven  years,  •  $43,706,766 

c.  . 

Report  of  the  Committee  on  the  Manufacture  of  Wool. 

The  committee,  directed  by  the  Convention  of  the  friends  of  Domestic  Industry, 
convened  in  New  York,  in  October  last,  represent  to  tlie  permanent  committee,  that 
the  committee  on  the  manufacture  of  wool  forthwith  issued  circulars,  with  various  in- 
terrogatories, to  tile  manufacturers  of  wool,  in  the  several  States  represented  in  the 
convention;  that  tliey  have  as  yet  received  but  partial  returns,  and  ask  leave  of  tlie' 
permanent  committee  for  further  time  to  complete  their  report.  It  is  much  to  be  re- 
gretted, that  the  requisition  of  the  permanent  committee  cannot  earlier  be  complied 
witli,  in  submitting  the  actual  returns;  but,  when  it  is  considered  over  what  an  extent 
of  country  these  inquiries  reach,  it  is  not  surprising  that  information  of  such  magni- 
tude should  require  more  time  for  the  actual  returns.  From  information  already  re- 
ceived, and  from  calculations  bused  upon  that  information,  the  committee  are  justified 
in  submitting  the  following  as  general  results;  in  thus  doing,  they,  with  much  confi- 

*  Tlie  uonaumpUon  of  (he  coat  of  Henntytvania,  in  the  Noiilirrn  portt,  liax  renulreil  a  vatt  increaM  o( 
(hecuaitiii^  iraile,  anil  the  deiuanil  fur  inackei'«l  and  utiivr  flih,  in  tlif  Middle  and  Suuthern  State*. 


'Wp, 


'HI! 


38 

dsnce,  beliAve  that  the  amount  will  fall  short  of  the  actual  retiima,  as  to  the  extent  and 
manufacttipe  uf  wool. 

All  which  is  respectfiilly  submitted. 

E.  H.  R0BBIK9,  Chairman. 

No.  1. 

The  probable  number  of  sheep  in  tlie  United  States  is  twenty  millions,  and  worth,  on 
an  average,  two  dollars  per  head,  .  .  .  $40,000,000 

The  sheep  farms,  generally,  do  not  support  three  sheep  to  the  acre, 
summer  and  winter  through,  although  the  land  be  pretty  good,  and 
well  managed.  Of  tlxe  twenty  milUons  of  sheep,  it  is  supposed  that 
aboutifive  millions  are  in  the  State  of  New  York,  having  had  8,469, 539 
in  1825,  the  latest  returns  at  hand;  and  it  ia  known,  that  many  of  these 
sheep  are  fed  upon  lands  worth  from  fifteen  to  thirty  dollars  per  ^cre; 
and,  in  Dutchess  county,  in  which  are  .ibout  five  hundred  thousand 
sheep,  the  lands  on  which  they  are  fed  ai-e  worth  about  twenty-five 
dollars  per  acre.  It  is  then  probable,  that  the  average  worth  of  land 
in  the  United  States,  capable  of  supporting  three  sheep  to  the  acre, 
through  the  year,  are  worth  ten  dollars  per  acre;  twenty  millions  of 
sheep  will  require  6,666,666  acres,  say  6,500,000  acres,  at  $10, 

Capital  in  sheep,  and  lands  to  feed  them, 

The  twenty  millions  of  sheep  produce  fifty  millions  of  pounds  of  wool, 
annually,  the  average  value  ofwhich,  for  three  years,  1829,  1830, 1831, 
exceeded  forty  cents  per  pound,  or,  -  -         {^20,000,000 

(The  crop  of  1831  was  worth  more  than  $25,000,000.) 

The  crop  of  wool,  having  reference  to  the  whole  quantity 

made  into  cloth  of  various  qualities,  is  worth  -  40,000,000 

Which  is  about  the  gross  annual  product  of  wool  and  its  manufactures 
in  the  United  States.  If  tlie  woollen  goods  imported,  valued  at  five 
millions  of  dollars,  be  added,  there  will  be  allowed  for  each  person  in 
the  United  States,  three  and  a  half  dollars'  worth  of  woollens  per  an- 
num, including  blankets,  carpets,  &c.  as  well  as  clothing. 

The  fixed  and  floating  capital  vested  in  the  woollen  manufactories  of  the 
United  States,  such  as  lands,  water  rights,  buildings,  machinery,  and 
stock  on  hand,  and  cash  employed,  may  be  estimated  at 


t 

r 

u 

66,000,000 

$105,000,000 

a 

t           w 

P 

in 

Cl 

40,000,000  ^ 


Capital  directly  vested  in  the  growth  and  manufacture  of  wool,      $145,000,000 

The  proportion  between  the  amount  of  wool  used  in  the  factories,  and 
worked  up  by  household  industry,  are  as  3  to  2;  and,  on  the  average, 
it  will  employ  one  person  to  work  up  one  thousand  pounds  of  wool', 
annually,  or  fifty  thousand  persons  in  the  whole. 

It  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  each  laborer  subsists  two  otlier  persons, 
say  150,000  in  all,  deriving  a  direct  support  from  the  woollen  manu- 
facture, whether  household  or  otherwise. 

Each  pewon  will  consume  at  least  twenty-five  dollars*  worth  of  agricul- 
tursd  products  annually,  is  $3,750,000  worth  of  subsistence. 

The  average  product  of  lands,  cultivated  for  the  supply  of  food,  does 
not  exceed  two  dollars  and  fifty  cents  per  acre  yearly,  after  subsisting  * 

the  cultivators,  and  those  dependent  on  them;  it  will,  therefore,  re- 
quire 1,500,000  acres  of  land  to  feed  thosc'manufacturers  and  their  de- 
pendents, worth,  say  fifteen  dollars  per  acre,  is  -  .  32,500,000 

Capital  involved  in  the  growth  and  manufacture  of  wool,  in  the  U.  S.       $167,500,000 

The  annual  value  created  by,  or  accruing  to,  agriculture,  because  of  tlie  growth  and 

manufacture  of  wool,  may  be  thus  shown : 

Wool,             ......  $20,000,000 

Provisions  to  man-i    cturers,          ....  9,760,000 

Fuel,  timber,  and  other  products  of  the  land,  supplied,                 .  600,000 
Charges  for  transportation,  and  food  of  horses,  and  otlier  animals,  •m- 

ployed  because  of  the  factories,                 .                .                ,  600,900 

924,760,000 


t 


Tl 


lia 


asc 
< 

yp.t 

CUH 

in  I 
allf 
and 
att 
ent 
we, 

alw 

exo 

less 

Ike 

dm. 


i  the  axtent  and 


S,  Chairman. 

B,  and  worth,  on 
$40,000,000 

•e, 

nd 
lat 
39 
se 
:e; 
n.l 
,ve 
nd 
re, 
of 

65,000,000 


4  89 

The  folIoMrhipf  should  rightfully  be  added,  to  show  the  whole  opf  ration 
of  the  woollen  manufacture  in  the  United  States: 

For  every  one  hundred  thousand  pounds  of  wool  manufactured,  there  is 
''  a  constant  employment,  equal  to  the  labor  of  six  men,  in  the  erection 
and  repair  of  buildings,  mill  wrights'  and^  blacksmiths'  work,  and  in 
the  building  and  repairing  of  machinery,  whether  for  wool  worked  up 
in  the  factories  or  in  families;  say  three  thousand  men,  whose  labor  sub- 
sists at  least  nine  thousand  other  persons — twelve  thousand  in  all,  and 
consume,  each,  twenty-five  dollars'  worth  of  agricultural  produce  an- 
nually, i*  .  •  -  -  -  - 


$105,000,000 
ol, 
31, 
)00 

300 

res 
five 

[1  in 

an- 

the 
and 

1,      \ 
md 

40,000,000 

(145,000,000 

)0l. 

>ns. 

■ 

nu- 

:ul. 

* 

oes 

ing 
re- 
de- 

rth 

22,500,000 

$167,500,000 

e  growth  and 

$20,000,000 

8,750,000 

500,000 

►m- 

600,900 

300,000 


'  $25,050,000 

Making  the  wiiole  number  of  persons  employed,  because  of  the  manufacture  ofwool, 
onft  hundred  and  sixty-two  thousand,  and  requiring  of  the  product  of  agriculture,  for 
materials  and  subsistence,  the  very  large  amount,  per  annum,  of  twenty.five  ntillions 
and  fifty  thousand  dollars. 

No.  2. 

The  subject  of  the  woollen  manufactuBe  might  be  much  further  pursued,  as  to  the 
employment  of  persons  and  capital  in  other  various  branches  of  industry  connected 
with  it — making  of  iron;  mining  coal;  the  whale  fishery;  the  foreign  and  coasting  trade, 
and  nil  the  <lependent  interest.  The  woollen  manufacture  is  a  great  stimulant  to  the 
whale  fishery,  consuming,  annually,  about  180,000  gallons. 

The  following  statement  will  show  its  benefits  to  the  navigating  interest  alone,  inde- 
pendent  of  the  coasting  trade. 

A  woollen  factory,  manufacturing  one  hundred  thousand  pounds  of  wool  per  annum, 
into  forty  thousand  yards  of  6-4  wide  cloths,  will  require  of  the  productions  of  foreign 
countries,  on  w\\\c}\  freights  would  accrue,  as  follows: 

1^,        20  pipes  of  olive  oil,  from  Leghorn,  at  $10  per  pipe,  -  $200 

^        100  boxes  (of  100  pounds  each)  of  oil  soap,  do.  at  $1,  -  100 

4,000  pounds  o^  Bengal  indigo,  at  three  cents  per  pound,  -  120 

^          15  tons  of  dye  wood,  at  $6,      -                -                -  -  90 

m           3  tons  madder,  at  $10,  (Holland)          •                -  •  30 

600  gallons  Sperm,  oil,              ....  200 

Other  articles  of  foreign  production,                    -  -  10 


The  freight  on  the  above  forty  thousand  yards,  from  Europe  to  the  United 
States,  is  known  to  be,  and  is  so  set  down  at  - 

Ciain  to  our  navigation  in  freight,  on  the  manufacture  of  «very  •  one  hundred 
thousand  pounds  of  wool,  •  -  •  - 


$760 


600 


$260 


924,760,000 


D. 

Joseph  Gee's  work,  published  in  llbtS. — Colonial  policy  of  Great  Britain. 

3.  The  means  of  preserving  to  Great  Britain  her  manufacturing  and  commercial 
ascendancy. 

"  But  aa  much  a^  I  am  for  making  Gibraltar  and«Port  Mahon  free  ports,  I  cannot 
>  p.t  be  of  their  opinion,  who  are  for  having  all  the  ports  of  England  made  free — all  our 
custom  houses  demolished — and  all  the  products  and  manufactures  of  the  world  brought 
in  free',  of  all  duty,  that  we  may  send  them  out  again,  as  free,  to  all  other  countries: 
alleging  that  this  is  tlie  practice  of  Holland,  the  Hans  Town,  Hamburg,  Leghorn,  &c.; 
and  that  It  is  by  these  means  they  have  worked  themselves  into  so  vast  and  extensive 
a  trade,  in  furnishing  other  People  with  foreign  commodities.  But  these  notions  are 
entirely  wrong.  For,  as  to  the  Dutch,  tliey  lay  duties  on  their  importations  as  well  as 
we,  &c, 

*«  But  what  is  of  the  utmost  consequence  to  us  is,  that,  by  laying  high  duties  we  are 
always  able  to  check  the  vanity  of  our  People  in  their  extreme  fondness  of  wearing 
exotic  manufactures.  For  if  it  were  not  for  this  restraint,  as  our  neighbors  give  much 
less  ivages  to  their  workmen  than  we  do,  and  consequently  can  sell  cheaper,  the  Italians, 
the  French,  and  the  Dutch,  would  have  amtinued  to  pour  upon  us  their  silks,  paper,  hats, 
ilruggtts,  stuffs,  rattetns,  and  even  Spanish  wool  clothes;  [for  they  have  tii«  wool  of 


40 

tlvat  country  as  cheap  as  wc ;  and  are  become  masters  of  that  biisIneRS,  by  the  gfreat 
encouragement  they  have  given  to  able  workmen  from  other  countries,  to  settle  with 
them:]  und  thereby  have  prevented  the  growth  of  those  manuj'atturea  amongst  us;  and 
so  might  have  reduced  us  to  the  low  estate  we  were  in  before  their  establishment.  •■  And, 
therefore,  it  will  ever  be  a  maxim,  strictly  to  be  observed,  by  all  prudent  Govern- 
ments, who  are  capable  of  manufacturing  within  themselves,  to  lay  such 'duties  on  the 
foreign  as  may  favor  their  own,  and  discourage  the  importation  of  any  of  the  like  sorts 
from  abroad.  By  this  means  the  French  have,  in  our  time,  nursed  up  a  woollen  manu- 
factory, and  brought  it  to  snch  perfection  as  to  furnish  themselves  with  all  such  wool- 
len  godils  as  they  formerly  bought  of  us  to  a  very  great  value:  and  arc  even  become  com- 
petilors  with  tM,  in  foreign  markets," 

[It  seems,  then,  that,  at  least  so  long  as  one  ccnt-iry  ago,  the  modern  doctrine  of 
Free  Trade  had  its  advocates;  and  that  France,  following  the  example  of  Great  Britain, 
and  rejecting  this  doctrine,  pursued  what  is  called  the  American  System.  The  wealth 
of  power  enjoyed  by  France  and  England,  attributable  mainly  to  the  encouragement 
which  tliey  aflbrded  to  their  own  industry,  contrasted  with  the  languor,  debihty,  aud 
dependence,  all  around  them,  afford  a  practical  demonstration  of  the  wisdom  and  the 
folly  of  these  opposing  doctrines.] 

•'  The  proper  means  to  discourage  the  importation  of  foreign  manufactures  and  to 
promote  the  increase  of  our  ov/n,  is  to  lay  such  duties  on  tlie  foreign,  as  may  encou- 
rage our  People  to  vie  with  them :  and  this  we  have  formerly  practised,  in  some  instances 
to  our  advantage.  But  we  should  go  on  further,  and  advance  the  duties  on  all  such 
foreign  manufactures  which  we  might  well  supply  ourselves  with,  in  such  a  proportion 
that  our  manufactures  might  be  enabled  to  afford  what  they  make  cheaper  than  they 
could  be  imported." — Page  172. 

4.  To  what  point  shall  protection  or  encouragement  be  carried? 

[Speaking  of  the  encouragements  necessary  to  colonial  industry,  to  render  it^acces- 
sory  to  the  British  policy,  our  author  .says.] 

••  After  all,  it  will  hardly  be  possible  to  bring  any  of  those  Improvements  to  the  de- 
sired perfection,  without  steady  resolution  in  the  Government  to  sustain  and  support 
them,  and,  as  it  were,  to  carry  them  in  their  arms:  for  new  enterprises  will  always  be 
subject  to  accidents  and  discouragements  too  difficult  for  private  persons  to  surmount, 
without  the  assistance  of  the  public,  as  occasion  may  require,  of  which  we  have  a  plain 
instance  in  our  attempt  upon  pitch  and  tar:  for  the  encouragement  whereof  a  large 
bounty  was  given /or  several  years,  till  It  came  to  be  imported  in  such  vast  quantities, 
that  we  had  not  only  enough  for  our  own  consumption,  but  even  to  export  to  our  neigh- 
bors: from  which  great  plenty  we  were  ready  to  persuade  ourselves  that  this  business 
was  su  fficiently  established,  and  therefore,  neglected  the  continuance  of  the  bounty.  Since 
which,  the  importation  of  tiiose  commodities  from  Russia,  Sweden,  and  Norway,  is  re- 
nssumed,  8tc.  So  that  we  arc  likely  to  be  soon  beaten  out  of  that  trade  again,  unless 
tve  shall  better  secure  it  to  ourselves,  eitlier  by  renewing  the  bounty  or  advancing  the 
duty  upon  foreign  pitch  and  tar." 

[Such  were  the  opinions  of  a  writer,  who  looked  with  a  keen  and  observing  eye  to 
the  great  interests  of  Aw  country  j  and  who, -instead  of  being  misled  by  the  wild  theo- 
ries of  the  day,  was  influenced  by  practical  results,  and  the  experienca  of  ages. 

1  am  not  so  ignorant  or  so  presumptuous  us  to  suppose,  that  these  quotittions  can 
add  any  tiling  to  your  information  or  research.  But,  upon  this  engrossing  question, 
1  was  desirous  to  contribute,  if  I  could,  an  Inimble  mite  in  support  of  measures  upou 
which  1  believe  depend  the  prosperity  and  happiness  of  the  whole  Union.] 


.•■*■ 


,  by  the  gfreat 
to  settle  with 
xmgat  US;  and 
hment.  •■  And, 
ident  Govern- 
1 'duties  on  the 
f  the  like  sorts 
ivooUen  manu- 
iiU  such  wool- 
en  become  com' 

rn  doctrine  of 
'  Great  Britain, 
n.  The  wealth 
:ncouragement 
",  debiUty,  aud 
wisdom  and  the 

factures  and  to 
as  may  encou- 
some  instances 
ties  on  all  such 
ch  a  proportion 
?aper  than  they 


render  itjacces- 

nients  to  the  de- 
un  and  support 
3  will  always  be 
ns  to  surmount, 
we  have  a  pHun 
diereof  a  large 
vast  quantities, 
irt  to  our  neigh- 
tat  this  business 
bounty.  Since 
Norway,  is  re- 
c  again,  unless 
r  advancing  the 

^serving  eye  to 
the  wild  theo- 
fages. 

uotittions  can 
sing  question, 

measures  upon 

iin.] 


4« 

E.  • 

Statement  of  the  annual  amount  of  Exports  av  I  Imports,  to  and  from  England,  Scot- 
land, and  Ireland,  from  the  1st  of  Octobtrf  1820,  to  the  30th  June,  1831. 


TEARS. 

Exports. 

Imports. 

In  the  year  ending  30th  September, 

1821, 

$20,777,480 

$26,087,108 

1822, 

24,498,347 

34,806,287 

1823, 

21,866,939 

27,935,141 

1824, 

21,620,179 

28,088,317 

1825, 

37,102,978 

36,713,246 

1826, 

21,991,875 

26,131,969 

1827, 

26,392,306 

30,287,113 

1828, 

23,060,669 

32,811,210 

1829, 

24,291,693 

25,279,489 

1830, 

26,329,352 

23,519,214 

In  the  nine  months  ending  80th  June, 

1831, 

26,031,710 

29,918,993 

$273,963,528 

$320,578,087 

273,963,628 

$46,614,659 

Tbbasdrt  Departusnt,  Register's  Office,  January  25,  1832, 

T.  L.  SMITH,  Register. 

Note.  The  records  do  not  exhibit  the  valu«  of  imports,  prior  to  the  1st  October, 
1820. 

F. 

The  expenses  of  planting  cotton,  in  Louisiana  may  be  estimated,  upotl  a  general 
average,  of  less  than  one  third  of  the  crop,  or  of  three  cents  a  pound. 

Plantations,  of  from  five  to  ten  thousand  dollars  a  year,  lost  about  one-third,  for  the 
expenses  of  making  the  crop,  induing  *he  ordinary  and  necessary  expenses  of  plain 
living  for  the  support  of  the  family. 

In  plantations  yielding  more  than  ten  thousand  dollars,  the  expenses  bear  a  less  pro- 
portion, and  those  less  than  five  thousand  dollars,  a  greater,  to  the  amount  of  tlie  crop. 

At  the  present  prices  of  lands  and  slaves,  the  latter  of  which  are  high,  plantations 
will  yield  ten  per  cent,  and  often  upwards;  and,  when  the  capital  is  large,  the  profit 
will  be  much  greater. 

It  may  be  safely  computed,  that  plantations  yield  a  clear  profit  of  seven  per  cent., 
and,  in  favorable  years,  of  ten  per  cent. 

The  above  estimate  is  founded  on  nine  and  ten  cents  for  cotton. 

Of  tliese  expenses,  it  may  be  calculated  that  pork,  and  the  wages  of  the  overseer, 
compose  one  half.     The  overseers,  in  general,  save  nearly  all  their  pay. 

One  half  the  remainder  is  made  up  of  cotton  bagging,  cordage,  horses,  mules,  oxen, 
and  taxes. 

The  cotton  bagging,  and  cordage  is  made  of  hemp,  in  Kentucky;  is  much  stronger 
and  safer  for  b^ing  than  the  foreign;  and,  besides,  weighs  much  heavier.  It  now  sells, 
in  consequence  of  the  competition,  at  from  sixteen  to  twenty  cents.  The  planters 
estimate  that,  at  these  prices,  it  will,  at  ten  cents  a  pound,  with  the  cordage,  sell  with 
the  cotton  for  as  much  as  it  costs. 

About  one  fourth  of  the  expenses  of  a  plantation  are  for  woollens,  cottons,  blankets, 
shoes,  hats,  salt,  sugar,  coffee,  medicine,  iron,  tools,  &c.  all  articles  paying  duties,  a^ 
different  rates. 

In  a  crop  of  ten  thousand  dollars,  tlie  expenses  may  vary  from  two  thousand  eight 
hundred  to  three  thousand  two  hundred  dollars;  of  which  it  may  be  said,  from  seven  to 
flight  hundred  are  for  articles  paying  duties.  These  expenses  depend  much  upon 
management  and  economy. 


'iii 


If 

iff 
I 


ililli 

M 


i  tt  li 


■!, 


42 
G. 

New  York,  October  S\.  1891. 
B.  B.  HoWBLi,  Esq. 

Dear  Sir:  In  conformity  with  your  request,  1  herewith  gfive  you  a  statement  of 
the  iron  produced  in  Litchfield  county,  Connecticut,  with  the  manufactures  of  iron 
and  steel  in  said  county;  to  which  I  have  added  the  other  productions  of  the  county, 
as  estimated  by  the  delegates  of  the  convention  from  that  county.  "It  may  not  be  per- 
fectly accurate,  as  a  portion  of  it  is  founded  upon  conjecture  j  but  the  total  will  rather 
run  short  of,  than  overrun,  the  true  amount,  as  a  very  considerable  list  of  articlea, 
each  of  small  comparative  value,  are  entirely  omitted. 

I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

JOHN  M.  HOLLEY. 


,! 


FttlM. 

Value. 

Pig,  and  bar  iron,  8cc. 

$293,000 

Brought  forward, 
Shoes  and  boots. 

$451,700 

112,000 

Manufacturetofiron,  &c. 

• 

Carriages  and  wagons. 

38,000 

Scythes, 

•    $56,000 

Clocks, 

-      382,000 

Hoes, 

7,lfi0 

Leather,  ' 

181,000 

Axes, 

26,500 

Cabinet  work,  and  chairs, 

27,000 

Rat  and  mouse  traps,     - 

9,500 

Cordage, 

500 

Shoe  Ucks,  and  sparables, 

40,000 

Machinery,  part  wood,  and 

part 

Shovels  and  spades, 

6,500 

iron  and  steel, 

19,000 

Augers, 

200 

Brick,  clay  furnaces,  and 

mar- 

Steel, 

8,000 

ble. 

38,200 

Pitchforks, 

20,000 

Rakes  and  brooms. 

5,000 

Ploughs, 

3,800 

Lime, 

5,000 

Musical  instruments. 

Buttons, 

Cheese, 

2,200 
20,000 

$177,660 

115,000 

Other  productions. 

Butter, 

17,600 

Wool, 

$151,000 

Woollen  cloths. 

215,000 

$1,414,200 

Cotton  cloths, 

15,000 

Pig  and  bar  iron. 

-     293,000 

Hats, 

70,700 

Manufactures  of  iron,  &c. 
Total, 

177,650 

Carried  forward. 

$451,700 

$1,884,850 

t 


H. 

Abstract  of  returns  of  thirty-five  fVooUm  Factories,  in  the  county  ef  fVorcetter,  Massa- 
chusetts. 

Amount  of  capital  invested,  including  tlie  annual  average  amount  of  stock  and  goods 
on  hand,  ......         $2,310,000 

Quantity  of  wool  manufactured,  very  littla  of  which  is  produced  in  Mas- 
sachusetts, 2,530,000  pounds,  annually. 

Annual  quantity  of  broadcloths,  .        642,000  yardi. 

"  cassimeres,  ,  .        366,000     " 

"  sattinet,  .  .      1,146,000     " 

Average  annual  value  of  goods,         ..... 

Aggfi'egate  amount  of  wages,  ..... 

Articles  of  American  production  used  in  the  above  factories,  besidM 
wool,  say  cotton,  for  warps  of  satdnets,  pot  and  pearl  ashes,  woad, 
alum,  vitriol,  copperas,  and  other  chemicals,  glue  patM,  soap,  Sig . 
TmssIb,  lime,  bran,  fuel,  leather,  for  cards  and  belts, 


2,671,350 
298,562 


16t,466 


81    1831. 

BUtement  of 
urea  of  iron 

the  county, 
^  not  be  per- 
gj  will  rather 

of  ftrticlei. 


iOLLEY. 


Valut. 

$451,700 

112,000 

38,000 

382,000 

181,000 

27,000 

500 


)art 


DSU*« 


19,000 

38,200 
5,000 
5,000 
2,200 

20,000 
115,000 

17,600 


$1,414,200 
293,000 
177,650 

$1.884,850 


48 

I.  . 

Extract  from  an  article  in  the  Charleston  City  Gazette,  copied  into  the  New  OrUana  Em- 

porium,  January  4. 

1st.  The  greatest  fluctuation  in  the  price  of  cotton  was  before  the  tariff  of  1824. 

2d.  Cotton,  like  every  other  article  of  merchandise,  has  its  fixed  price,  not  in  Ame- 
rica,  but  in  the  market  of  the  world,  and  depends  upon  the  proportion  batween  de- 
mand and  supply,  just  as  corn,  which,  when  it  is  scarce,  sells  high,  and  when  plenty 
sells  low. 

To  illustrate  how  perfectly  the  price  depends  on  the  demsind,  it  is  stated  that  the 
crop  of  1819,  amounting  to  eighty-eight  millions  of  pounds,  sold  for* twenty-one  mil- 
lions of  dollars;  while  the  crop  of  1823,  amounting  to  one  hundred  and  seventy  mil- 
lions of  pounds,  was  sold  for  only  twenty  millions  of  dollars !  And  this  before  the  light 
tariff  of  1824.  The  cause  of  this  difference  in  the  price  of  cotton  is  found  in  the  state 
of  the  markets,  which  were  hungfiy  in  1819,  and  had  not  a  great  supply,  but  were 
overfed  in  1823,  and  could  hardly  digest  the  crop  of  that  year. 

The  price  of  cotton  fluctuated  before  the  present  tariff,  and,  if  the  same  causes  of 
fluctuation  exist,  they  will  produce  the  same  effects,  independent  of  the  tariff.  It  is 
true  cotton  has  come  to  be  sold  at  ten  cents  per  pound,  that  used  to  bring  twenty 
cents.  In  this  reduction  of  his  profits,  the  cotton  planter  oni_  shares  the  same  with 
the  wheat  grower.  Flour  is  sold  at  five  dollars  per  barrel,  wlnch  formerly  brought 
eight  and  ten  dollars;  and  the  products  of  the  earth  generally  are  low,  because  they 
are  very  abundant. 

Witli  respect  to  cotton,  this  is  to  be  said  further.  No  mode  of  investing  money  in 
agi'icultural  pursuits,  this  side  of  the  sugar  plantations,  has  afforded  so  great  an  income 
as  the  culture  of  cotton.  8o  tliat  has  happened  to  tlie  cotton  planter,  which  happens 
to  all,  viz :  a  diminution  of  his  income,  from  the  multitudes  of  those  who  adopted  his 
lucrative  business. 

To  seek  relief  from  this  depressed  price  of  cotton,  by  repealing  the  tariff  law,  is  a 
most  inconsiderate  step :  for  the  tariff  not  only  creates  a  new  market  for  raw  cotton,  but 
it  also  converts  some  of  the  finest  country  for  growing  cotton,  into  sugar  plantations. 
The  tariff,  by  protecting  domestic  sugars,  enables  the  Louisianian  to  raise  sugar.  Re- 
move the  tariff  from  sugars,  and  the  Louiaanian  cannot  compete  with  the  West  Indian. 
Cotton  he  can  raise  to  better  advantage  than  the  Carolinian.  So  the  relief  of  the  cot- 
ton planter,  sought  by  the  repeal  of  the  protecting  tariff,  would  multiply  cotton  grow- 
ers and  c\it  off  the  northeastern  market  at  one  and  the  same  blow.  What  a  stroke  of 
nullifying  policy  that  would  be ! 

The  price  of  any  thing  in  market  is  governed  by  the  stock  in  market;  if  that  is  gfreat, 
the  price  is  low;  if  small,  the  price  is  high.  Whatever  has  a  tendency  to  consume 
the  stock,  increases  the  price;  and  whatever  has  a  tendency  to  increase  the  stock,  di- 
minishes the  price  of  that  article  in  the  market. 

The  terrible  manufactures  at  the  North  do  not  add  to  the  stock  of  cotton;  they  di- 
minish the  stock,  and  raise  the  price  in  the  market  of  the  world.  They  consume  vast 
quantities  of  cotton,  and  clear  the  market  of  what  might  otherwise  become  a  drug. 
A  repeal  of  tlie  tariff  law  would  wind  up  the  Northern  factories.  When  these  ceass 
to  be  consumers,  the  price  of  cotton  must  fall  lower  than  it  now  is. 


'esttr,  Ma$sa- 


k  and  goods 
$2,310,000 


2,«71,260 
298.662 


16M65 


I 


